


An unexpected welcome

by Delta_0



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Foursome, M/M, Multi, Threesome, two people relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2020-12-24 07:22:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 50,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21095627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delta_0/pseuds/Delta_0
Summary: Cardinal Copia has just been assigned to replace Papa Emeritus the third. Not only is he trying to deal with his new duties, but also some curious ghouls. A little too curious...





	1. chapter 1

A gloved hand slowly turned the last page of a stack of papers on the dim lit desk. Yet another pile was waiting for him on the side, but he wasnt up for it. Not tonight. He was tired. Mentally as well as physically. It sure wasnt easy having to tackle the role as the new Papa... Well, technically, he wasnt the new Papa. He was just the new...well... the new one in charge. A sigh escaped the cardinal and he pushed away from the desk, deciding on leaving the rest of the paper work for the morning. It was a bit late anyway. 

He stood and stretched, thoughts of the upcoming rituals spinning through his mind still. Perhaps he should read a book, or something. Try and take work off his mind for a bit. He doubted he would be able to sleep otherwise. He was confident he could handle his newly assigned job. It was just ... Papa Nihil doubting him. He would be lying if he said it didnt concern him. He sure didnt want to end up like Papa Emeritus the third, or his brothers... Another sigh escaped him and he was about to yawn when there was suddenly a knock on the door to his chambers. He flinched, having been totally unprepared for visitors at this time of the night. Who could it possibly be at this hour? Had something happened...?  
Suddenly more awake, he steered fast steps towards the door and put his hand on the knob, hesitating for a moment before finally pushing it down. When he slowly opened it and peeked into the dark hallway outside, he was met with the face of a ghoul. He hadnt quite learned to discern the differences in their appearances just yet. He didnt know them very well either. However, their voices helped him keep track of who was who. 

"Cardinal", the man greeted him and he nodded in return. 

"Dewdrop?" he replied, hoping that he was right. He immediately regretted using that questioning tone of voice. If he had guessed right though, maybe he could get away with it as simply being a questioning of the ghoul's visit, and not of his name. From what he could tell, the man hadnt seemed to react to his reply in any way, and so he could relax a bit. 

"Are you busy?" came a question suddenly, and Copia had to think about it for a moment. No, he wasnt busy...but...it was late and he sort of wanted to go to sleep. 

"I am, unfortunately, my friend", he replied with an excusing expression on his tired face. "I have a date with my bed", he added, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards a tiny bit. It had been a bad attempt at a bad joke, but he couldnt take it back now. The ghoul watched him curiously. 

"So...you dont want to hang out?" the younger man asked, tilting his head slightly to the left, eyes still fixed on the Cardinal's. Again, Copia gave him a sort of guilty look.

"No, I'm sorry, Dewdrop", he said and then started closing the door slowly. "Have a nice night." He didnt want to appear rude and slam it in his face. Sweet Satan. Didnt that ghoul have any nocturnal friends to play with at night? 

As he made his way back through the office room, he started to unbutton his coat. On the way over to his bedroom, he snatched a book from the shelf and looked down at the cover. This one would have to do. Once inside the bedroom, he threw the book onto the silky, deep red covers on his bed and proceeded with gently removing and folding his coat. He put it aside on a chair and made himself comfortable on the bed. The words he was reading as he opened the book seemed to just register for a second and then disappear from his mind. As if he couldnt focus. It felt unusally hard to emerge himself in the text. Not a good enough distraction for tonight, huh? He sighed as thoughts of work invaded his mind yet again, chasing away anything and everything that had previously occupied it. 

Another sigh escaped him and he put the book away, grabbing the bed covers to pull them over his head. He wondered what Papa Emeritus the third would have done in his situation. He laid there in silence, for what felt like an hour before finally falling asleep. At least he thought he had been asleep for a while. There was this sensation of having been blacked out for a moment. You'd think it would be easy to go back to sleep again. but no. No..... Here he was, wide awake again. Typical. He also noted a feeling of hunger in his stomach. Perhaps if he got himself something to eat... Surely, that would take his mind off things.  
He sat and elegantly swung his legs over the edge of the bed, realizing that he was still wearing his shoes when they connected with the floor. He didnt bother with grabbing the coat before exiting his chambers. 

The hallways were dark and silent. A tiny bit chilly, but that was just fine by him. He walked on, humming quietly to himself and feeling more awake than ever. He passed a common room and then a wall of some portraits. They were ones of the three late Papas. A chill ran down his spine, as most other times when he passed this particular hallway. Subconsciously, he sped up his pace a bit.  
When he finally arrived to the kitchen, he stopped dead in his tracks, thinking that he had heard footsteps from behind. When he turned around though, there was no one there. It was probably his sleep deprived mind playing tricks on him. Sigh. He carefully pushed the doors to the kitchen open and was a bit surprised to see yet another familiar face in there. Well, practically the same face really. He could tell that the ghoul was a rather soft mannered person and was proud to instantly recognize him. 

"Rain", he greeted the man cheerfully as he stepped inside, causing the ghoul to tense up a bit. 

"Sir", the young man greeted him back and instantly put his glass of water to his lips. He was watching the Cardinal move across the room to pick up an apple. Their eyes met for a moment and Copia gently threw the fruit a few inches into the air and catched it again with ease. He was just about to address him again when both of their attention were drawn to the door. It was Dewdrop again. The said ghoul entered casually and jumped to sit his bum on the counter next to Rain. Then his eyes traveled to Copia. 

"I thought you were busy", the man pointed out, piercing the Cardinal's eyes with an intense gaze. Rain was now staring at Copia as well. The apple in his hand was squeezed lightly and his mouth opened a tiny bit. It closed again and then opened a second time. 

"Uuh...I couldnt seem to fall asleep", he excused himself and took a bite out of the fruit. He wondered why Dewdrop was so keen on calling him out. Perhaps he was testing him. Testing his boundaries. Yes, that was probably it. Without waiting for an answer, Copia started moving towards the doors again, thinking that he should go for a walk. The fiery ghoul pushed himself off the counter and followed him. As did Rain when he realized that everyone was leaving. Copia didnt get a chance to even wonder why the two were stalking him before Dewdrop spoke, coming up next to him.

"I can show you around", he offered and recieved a raised eyebrow in return. This ghoul was just confusing Copia more and more. He could feel the intense gaze of both men on him as they walked on. 

"You know, I'm not new to this place", he pointed out and chewed quietly. 

"But you havent seen our quarters", Dewdrop insisted, not taking his eyes off the Cardinal, who gave him a sort of 'fair enough' look. They continued on in silence until they reached a big stairwell. The little ghoul was right. Copia hadnt actually been in these parts of the ministry. It had just never been necessary. Nor had it been linked to any of his previous duties in any way. He was slowly finishing his apple, letting Dewdrop take the lead up the stairs with Rain following them close behind. He couldnt imagine that there was anything for him to see up there, but as he didnt have anything better to do with his time at the moment, he might as well have a look. Also, he didnt want to be rude. 

"This is where we used to hang out alot with Papa", Dewdrop made a gesture towards the common room at the top of the stairs. He then lead the way inside it. Copia took note of the bar at the left side of the room, as well as the fireplace further inside. Quite a cosy room. 

"That's my spot", Dewdrop pointed at a certain, cosy looking chair close to the fireplace and then turned his head to look at Copia. "but you can sit there if you want", he continued with a slightly suggestive tone in his voice. "We can both sit there", he added, still locking eyes with Copia. The older man raised his eyebrows little.

"Sure..sure..", he replied and looked around for a trashcan. "That's very nice of you", he continued, oblivious to the intense gaze that the ghoul was holding him under. 

"Ah", Copia spotted what he had been looking for and went over to the bar to throw the remains of his apple into the dustbin. When he turned around, both men were staring at him. Sort of like a couple of wolves watching their prey. Strange people, those ghouls... 

"So...", he tried breaking the silence and awkwardness, but he didnt have to take responsibility for it for long, because Dewdrop was now moving towards him, beckoning for him to follow him as he passed him out into the hallway. A yawn escaped Rain as he too followed, just as curious about their new leader as his fellow ghoul was. They passed a couple of rooms before eventually stopping and entering one. It appeared to be a bedroom. It was dimly lit, which Copia liked. He always kept his bedroom that way, even in the daytime. It reminded him of the beauty sleep he should be having right now though, and he surpressed a yawn. 

"How do you like my room?" Dewdrop asked as they stopped by the bed. Rain remained a little further back, tilting his head slightly to the side as he watched Copia curiously. 

"It's....nice...", was the only thing the Cardinal could think of to say. He made a show of looking around the room before his gaze landed on Dewdrop again. 

"What do you think of my bed?" he was asked then. It threw him off guard slightly. He couldnt really see how that was a relevant question. This Dew guy sure was an oddball, he concluded. Naturally, his gaze landed on said bed and he struggled to come up with anything interesting to say about it. Eventually though, he replied. 

"Well....It's a.....bed", he said the obvious, looking back to Dewdrop, wondering what strange questions might be coming next. 

"Would you like to try it?" the ghoul asked, making a small gesture towards it. Copia realized that he must be looking really confused, and gathered himself a bit. He tried not to let this guy get under his skin. That was a really strange question. He must be trying to test him in some way... Maybe... He cleared his throat. 

"Perhaps...another time", he replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable at this point. He took a step towards the door, trying to pass Dewdrop when the ghoul put his arm out to stop him. 

"Why?" the man wanted to know, intense eyes staring back into his slightly distressed ones. He bit down on his tongue, the gears turning at full speed in his head. What did this guy want with him? What was his fucking deal? Copia decided on dropping the politeness and his gaze darkened as he glared at Dewdrop.

"Because I say so", he made clear, his voice a deep rumble. He didnt even blink as he challenged the man. The arm was still there. He wasnt one to turn to voilence, but....perhaps he would need to put this little ghoul in place. 

"Dew!" a scolding voice came from the doorway suddenly, making Dewdrop drop his arm with a sigh to turn and face Aether. "Leave him alone", said ghoul ordered him. After a few seconds of hesitation, the man stepped aside to let Copia move pass him and towards the door. He was clearly annoyed by Aether's interference, watching in disappointment as the Cardinal left the room, disappearing out of sight. 

Copia had already created a long distance between himself and the ghouls, hurrying back to his own quarters. He really needed to put that man in place, but as of right now, he was just pissed, confused and humiliated. He just really needed to sort his thoughts out. He wasnt sure of how he should interpret the missbehaving ghoul's intentions. At first, he was certain that he had just been provoking him, testing him and pushing his boundaries, but he wasnt so sure anymore. Which in turn made him uncomfortable...

When he finally reached his private quarters, he closed and locked the door behind him and poured himself a much needed glass of brandy. He knew he didnt enjoy drinking it raw like that, but at the time, he didnt really care. He downed it pretty quickly and shuddered before making a face of pure disgust. The glass was then put back onto the table, a little more harshly than intended. Dear Satan, what had he gotten himself into?

He started removing his shirt and shoes, as well as his pants, actually feeling tired now. That meant that he could give sleep another go. Hopefully, this time it would work. Right as he was about to head for the bedroom, a squeaky noise stopped him dead in his tracks and he settled his eyes on his work desk. A small, black rat was slinking through the piles of papers, only stopping when it reached the edge of the desk. It then proceeded with standing on its hind legs, sniffing the air in the direction of its owner. 

"Ah...,Aim", he addressed the little animal, instantly feeling calmer. He approached the desk while removing his gloves and then let the rat climb into the palm of his hand. Its tiny feet were cold against his skin, but he didnt mind that. The rodent continued up his arm and onto his shoulder before settling down. 

"It's nice to have a friend in this world", he spoke softly to it before deciding to head off to bed. He had even more thoughts and feelings to deal with now than before, but what could he do? Hopefully this time he would be able to sleep through the rest of the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you want to read more of this. Thanks


	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I just want to thank everyone for your lovely reviews, as well as kudos. I'm so glad you're enjoying my little story.

The next morning came eventually. It was still early and a soft mist was surrounding the ministry. Copia blinked twice, staring up at the ceiling. The first thing that popped into his mind was the events of the previous night, and it instantly made him feel uncomfortable. At least his mind wasnt occupied with work anymore... At least there was something positive about that. Wide awake again, he got out of bed and got dressed before grabbing his coat to put it on as he exited his private chambers. Out there in the hallway, he happened to bump into a couple of sisters, to who he of course apologized. Great...This day was already starting well...

A bit frustrated, he continued on to the kitchen, seeing yet another couple of sisters in there, as well as the big softy, Aether. His savior from yesterday. Feeling less tired and more clear headed now than last night, he decided that his worries about Dewdrop's intentions must have just been nonsense. It was plain silly. His imagination had probably run wild due to lack of sleep. Yes, of course that had to be it. It all made sense. The young man had just been messing with him. That's all.

"Morning, miladies", he nodded to the women and then settled his eyes on the ghoul. "Aeth", he nodded to him as well and then proceeded into the room to make himself a sandwich. 

"Sir", the ghoul replied politely and held the cardinal under his gaze for a few seconds before pushing his cup away from him on the big table in the middle of the room. He then stood and slowly, carefully came over to Copia, throwing a glance back at the sisters to make sure that they didnt seem to be listening. He then spoke up quietly. 

"I'm sorry about yesterday", his voice was almost a whisper and he was seeking eye contact with the man, who was still busy making his sandwich. There was silence for a moment before Copia was trying to deal with the sudden embarrassement that washed over him. He cleared his throat and brought the sandwich to his mouth to take a bite, still not looking at Aether. 

"No need to apologize, my friend", he ensured the ghoul and chewed quietly for a bit before continuing. "I have the situation under control". He then turned and took a few steps towards the doors, only stopping to take another bite from his sandwich. Aether was nodding behind his back, which obviously went unnoticed by Copia.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were ok", the ghoul said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Dew can be a little...feisty sometimes...", he trailed off and watched as Copia turned around to face him. 

"I noticed...", said man replied and sighed. "Dont worry about it. I'll show him his place", he added with a hint of a smirk on his lips, before turning again to exit the kitchen. He moved down the hallway, thinking that he might as well go ahead and go to the room that had been assigned to them for the practise of their rituals. Upon entering it a couple of minutes later, he stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth and headed for the small stage at the back of the room. Everything was just the way they had left it the last time.

Copia moved up the small steps and gracefully removed the microphone from its stand. He then proceeded with turning on all of their equipment, thinking that he might as well start without the others. He had nothing better to do right now anyway. He cleared his throat and decided on beginning with something soft and slow. As he sang quietly to himself, he closed his eyes, losing himself in the moment. It was quite relaxing actually. Just him and his microphone. This empty room. The pure silence around him. 

He ended up just humming for a bit, trying out some melodies that he hadnt quite mastered yet. Hearing them in his head was one thing, but getting them to sound right outside of it was another. Eventually, he opened his eyes and tensed when he noticed that he had an audience in the doorway. Both Dewdrop and Rain were standing there watching him. He awkwardly attached the microphone to the stand and said nothing. He then decided on heading over to the table by the far wall, where there was an assortment of liquors nicely lined up. It was never too early for a drink, in his mind. 

"Where is Aether?" he asked them, his back still turned to them. He wasnt really in the mood for being polite and greeting them right now. He wasnt really in the mood for Dewdrop's prescence in general. He decided on going for some rum this time and casually opened said bottle. He could hear footsteps approaching as he poured some of the liquor into a glass. 

"I'm sure he'll be here any moment", sweet Rain answered him and stepped up onto the small stage to grab his bass. He played a string as the cardinal turned around to finally face them. Copia noted that Dewdrop seemed alot more drawn back this morning. Decided to behave today, did we? He sipped his drink and looked over to Rain for a moment. The ghoul suddenly jumped out of the way, drawing the attention of both Copia and Dewdrop to him. Following his gaze, the two men looked down at the floor of the stage where a dark brown little rat scuttered around. Copia instantly recognized the rodent as Alastor. One among many little pets that he kept in the ministry.   
He was almost about to smile and step forward when Dewdrop, who was way closer to the stage, did the same thing. He stopped and watched as the ghoul stepped onto the stage and crouched to let the rat sniff his hand. It then sprinted up his arm and up to his shoulder. Dewdrop's eyes met with Copia's as he stood. There was definitely something challenging in the ghoul's eyes, but he decided on ignoring that and keep drinking. He'd probably need another... Fortunately for him, Aether finally showed up and broke the awkward silence in the room. Finally, he could get this over with and go on about his day. It wasnt that he didnt love his job and the ministry... Because he did. It was just this one ghoul....He was starting to get fed up with him.

"Right", he looked at the newly arrived ghoul and put his glass back down onto the table to join the others by the stage. He noticed that Dewdrop was now letting Alastor down carefully before getting his guitar. Good thing that the guy was at least nice to his animals. 

"Alright", Copia cleared his throat and grabbed the microphone once again. While waiting for the others to get ready, he pondered on what ritual to start off with. He eventually decided on one. This was one of the few times that he had practised together with the ghouls since he had taken over Papa Emeritus' role. He also didnt know them very well, but still, he felt as though something was out of place here today. Maybe it was just his imagination... Or it wasnt... He decided to blame it on the fire ghoul back there. He was always making him feel weird lately. 

They practised a few rituals and Copia eventually forgot about that odd feeling. That strange atmosphere that seemed to be lingering in the room. He just enjoyed himself, getting lost in the moment. Though, before he knew it, an hour had passed and they decided on taking a little break. Feeling a bit thirsty, he headed back over to the table to get himself some water. Alcohol just wouldnt do when you were thirsty. It seemed that the ghouls were leaving for a moment. Maybe to get some fresh air. What he didnt notice though, was that Dewdrop only followed the other two to the door and then stopped there.   
Copia turned around when he thought that he heard a noise, and was almost regretting doing so when noticing that the naughty fire ghoul was still in the room with him. Sigh. Was he up to no good? He turned his back to him to face the table again. Perhaps he should go outside too, just to avoid Dewdrop and to escape his feelings of discomfort. Or...He could be a man and stay. Thinking of running from his problems just made him feel silly. He wasnt a child, after all. Oh well....He knew how to put the ghoul in place if needed. It really was no big deal. Still, he tensed up when being addressed.

"You have a nice voice", came the slightly suggestive comment. He didnt answer. Instead, he gulped down the water in his glass, quickly, so that he could busy himself with pouring some more into it. His heart was starting to beat faster in his chest as he heard the ghoul moving closer...and closer...and closer. Copia realized that his glass had now been filled up to the top and that he would have to stop pouring. Damn it. He should have done it more slowly, but he was feeling pretty nervous. Plan B- start drinking again. Before that, he let go of the glass and put the caraffe down, tensing up some more when he heard Dewdrop's breathing right behind him. There was also this low, rumbling sound. Not quite a purr, but definitely something similar. He didnt know how else to describe it. He slowly inhaled a deep breath, putting on a show of not being bothered by this at all. He wouldnt let him get to him. 

"You're not very intimidating", he told the ghoul calmly and waited for some sort of an answer. None came. However, he did feel a hand on his thigh suddenly and froze, shocked and angry. He spun around and slammed the ghoul into the wall, teeth gritted together as he glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he growled, breathing heavily, heart racing fast in his chest. He was still pressing him to the wall. Dewdrop's slightly widened eyes went back to their original, relaxed form and he shrugged his shoulders. This only pissed Copia off more. 

"What do you want?" he demanded instead, still piercing the ghoul's eyes with his murderous glare. He was just met with more calm and silence. When he was about to give up and give him a hell of a scolding, the man suddenly spoke.

"You...", he said, as casually as if they were talking about the weather. Copia's lips parted slightly and his glare was quickly replaced with a look of shock and confusion. He just stared at the ghoul for several seconds, not knowing what to say or how to feel. What in Lucifer's hell...? The look in Dewdrop's eyes seemed genuine, for once, but...Copia didnt trust him. Not one bit. 

His hand slowly loosened from the man's chest and he felt as though his head was spinning. He became slightly disoriented as he stepped back and turned to leave. He was glad that Dewdrop didnt seem to be following him this time, because he didnt know how to handle that right now. He just needed to get away from it all. Here he was, running from his problems again. Just like he promised himself that he wouldnt.   
He passed Aether and Rain out in the hallway, but said nothing to them. He just really needed to get outside for a while. Catch his breath and...handle his emotions. After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the doors to the garden outside, rubbing his temple as he stepped through them. A couple of water drops landed on his face and he looked up to see that there was a light rain going on. Sigh. So he hadnt been delusional about the situation yesterday...? The ghoul did actually have feelings for him? It was a hard concept to grasp. The thought of it.....It felt unreal. That's why he prefered going back to thinking that there was still a chance that he was just messing with him. Yes, he would go with that thought. Nothing weird going on here. Just a mischiveous ghoul behaving badly. At least he tried to convince himself of that.

He took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes for a moment. Whatever Dewdrop's intentions were, he wasnt going to let him affect him right now. Not when they still had rehearsals to do. He stayed outside for a couple of more minutes until the rain was starting to become too much. Too annoying, and too wet. He finally opened his eyes and decided that it was time for him to get back to the others, or they might start wondering what was up. He sure didnt want to make a big deal out of it. Once back inside, he ran a hand through his slightly wet hair and wiped some water off his face. He couldnt deny that he was still feeling a bit nervous. 

It didnt take him long to return to his destination. In fact, it didnt take long enough. All three ghouls were already there, waiting for him with their seemingly innocent eyes focused on him. He acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and so did Dewdrop. They just continued on with their practising for a couple of more hours before everyone had to go their separate ways. It sure was a relief for Copia, who wanted nothing more than to return to his quarters and be alone for a while. Also, he still had some paper work that needed to be dealt with from yesterday. As he hurried back towards his private chambers, a thought crossed his mind. He wondered if any of the Papas had ever dealt with this issue called Dewdrop before. 

Only minutes later, Copia stepped into his cosy little sanctuary, and he made sure to lock the door behind him. Something he only started with last night. Before that, he had never felt a need to... He didnt bother with removing his shoes or his coat, but went straight to his desk to get to work. Strangely enough, as he was sitting there, going through last night's left over papers, thoughts of that annoying ghoul poppped into his head. In his mind, he could very clearly see those piercing eyes. That gaze boring straight through him. When memories of that touch came to him however, he stopped his trail of thoughts and gripped his pencil a bit harder. Dont think about. Dont think about it. Dont think about. 

Today was really going by slowly. He couldnt wait to have some lunch and to take a relaxing walk to clear his mind. Unless it was still raining, of course. He threw a glance at the window, unable to tell from his desk. For how long had he been working now? Couldnt be more than half an hour. Right as he was about to stack the papers and put them neatly into a pile, a knock on the door stopped him and he stared at it for a moment. If that was Dewdrop out there, he would lose his freaking mind. Nevertheless, he pushed away from the desk and went over to the door to unlock it. The strained expression on his face changed into a calmer one once he opened the door and came face to face with one of the sisters. Phew....

"Hello", he greeted her and she politely curtseyed to him in return.

"Cardinal Copia", she started, giving him a short lasting smile. "Papa Nihil wishes to see you", she explained and stepped aside slightly as to not hinder Copia from getting out. 

"Ooh...", he replied softly, thoughtfully, hoping that he wasnt in any trouble. His hand that was still on the doorknob slipped from it to run through his hair once. The sister watched him, sort of expectantly now, and he realized that he should probably go and pay Papa a visit right away. 

"...Thank you", he made sure to tell her, nodding to her before heading into the hallway. He didnt bother with locking his door. It really wasnt necesary as long as he was out anyway. Since he wouldnt be in there, it didnt matter if a certain ghoul happened to barge in...

As he walked, thoughts of what Papa could want with him ran through his mind and he hoped to Satan that Dewdrop hadnt told on him. He knew he had been a bit....physical with the ghoul, but what was he supposed to do? Soon enough, he found himself outside of the old man's quarters and he knocked carefully on the door, waiting nervously for any signs of life in there. He was soon granted permission to open it and he did so very carefully, peeking inside cautiously. He spotted the man at his desk, apparently in the process of typing something on his typewriter. Copia cleared his throat, worry clearly displayed in his eyes as he spoke.

"Papa", he greeted him and slowly and quietly made his way inside, closing the door behind him as carefully as if there were sleeping children in the room. 

"Cardinal", the older man cheerfully greeted him and pulled a paper from the typewriter before proceeding with putting a new one in there. 

"What are you doing?" Copia couldnt help but to wonder, watching as the man stood to come over to him. He straightened up a bit, folding his hands in front of his stomach. 

"I'm writing a story!" Papa Nihil exclaimed just as cheerfully as before, looking so proud of himself. "It may become a best selling book", he told Copia as he stopped in front of him, looking somewhat like he expected some praise for that. Copia, of course, wouldnt disappoint his boss.

"I'm sure it will, Papa", he replied politely. "I will keep my fingers crossed", the older man seemed content with that.

"Good, good, but not necessary", he said and scratched his ear a bit, looking more serious now. "Cardinal...There is something I need to ask of you", he started and narrowed his eyes slightly at him before continuing. "You see, I have been promised a very valuable item for a fellow pope of the ministry of Mölndal", he paused here in case Copia would want to make an input, but as none came, he continued. 

"I need you to go and get it for me this afternoon", he suddenly spun around and went over to his desk to open a couple of drawers. In one of them, he retrieved a small wooden chest, which he brought back to Copia. "Give him this in return", he told him. "And take the Aether ghoul with you, would you?" he started looking for something in his pockets suddenly and struggled to pull up what looked like a piece of paper. Copia watched him patiently, slowly beginning to wonder if he should offer his help to him, when the paper was suddenly freed. It appeared to be a map. 

"You will need this", Papa informed him and put it on top of the chest. "I have marked your destination. Oh, and you may borrow sister Imperator's car", he finished off with and gave Copia's arm a pat. Said man gave him a confused look in return. 

"I thought it was totaled...?" he spoke hesitatingly, and you could clearly see how the gears were turning at full speed in his head. 

"Oh. She got a new one, silly", Papa waved it off and cleared his throat, looking at him expectantly. "Off you go then", he almost pushed Copia out of the room, apparently wanting to get on with work...or...maybe his masterpiece book. 

"Uuh..Wait...Papa", Copia managed to blurt out before the door was about to be shut in his face. Fortunately, the old man decided to listen, peeking at him through the crack in the door. There was clearly impatience in his eyes.

""Yes?" he asked. 

"What's in the chest?" Copia wondered, his gaze dropping to the little box in his hands and then back up at Papa Nihil. 

"I cant tell you that", the old man replied. "Just.....be careful with it. Are we clear?" he wanted to make sure before letting his underling go. Copia nodded quietly in return, suddenly very curious, and a bit concerned about the box's contents. 

"Of course, Papa", he nodded respectfully to him before being on his way back to his quarters. Now where would be the safest place to keep this chest while he went looking for Aether? Probably in a locker...Perhaps in another box... As he was thinking about that, his stomach made a soft, rumbling sound, indicating that he should definitely be having lunch by now. He needed to take a break for it before getting on with his mission. 

After having secured the little chest at a safe place in his personal quarters, Copia headed over to the kitchen. He had hoped to find Aether in there so that he could discuss today's trip with him. Unfortunately, he wasnt there. Nor were the other ghouls. He supposed that he would be able to enjoy his lunch in peace then. Wonderful. Since he didnt have anyone to interact with though, he didnt let it drag on for too long, but finished his meal rather quickly. Then he was set on finding Aether. He himself needed to collect a few of his belongings before they could leave, and he needed to give the ghoul a heads up first so that he could do the same. They really had no time to lose. 

Copia figured that he should check the common rooms down on the first floor, and if he didnt find the ghoul there, he would continue his search upstairs. That's where the ghouls had their private quarters, after all. He found himself humming quietly as he walked, peeking into every room on his way. Any room that wasnt private or locked. You never knew where you would find a ghoul. They were strange people. He didnt really know what they enjoyed doing with their free time either, so it was hard to imagine the most likely place to find him. 

After a fruitless search of the downstairs, Copia decided on heading to the second floor. Aether had better be up there, or he swore to Lucifer....The first person that he spotted up their in the hallway was of course Dewdrop. They just locked eyes for a moment before Copia went on into the common room from yesterday. He was very pleased top see the ghoul he was looking for, in there. Rain was also there, seemingly playing a lone round of pool. Both of them stopped what they were doing to look at the cardinal.   
Copia put his arm on the frame of the doorway, leaning slightly on it while beckoning his finger to Aether to come over. He could sense Dewdrop in the background, sneaking closer to see what was going on. Aether raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner, but stood and obliged. Copia would wait until they were face to face before letting the man know what was going on. 

"Papa has asked me to make a delivery", he got right to the point, taking Aether with him out into the hallway. The other two ghouls exchanged looks in silence and then Dewdrop decided to follow them. 

"We should be leaving in ten minutes, so pack your things and meet me in the garage when you're ready", Copia told Aether and recieved a nod from the ghoul, whose interest seemed piqued. 

"Will do, Cardinal", the man replied politely, dutiful as always and recieved a jealous look from the fire ghoul. Said man then hurried after Copia, who was already on his way down the stairs. 

"I'll go with you", he insisted, apparently not happy with being left out. Copia just exhaled audibly through his nose and continued down the stairs. The last thing he needed today was more interactions with the misbehaving ghoul. 

"That's really not necessary", he told him as they reached the base of the stairs and continued down the corridor. There was silence for a moment and he wondered what might be going through Dewdrop's head right there and then. Frustration perhaps? Anger?

"You might need more than one man to secure your safety", the ghoul insisted on, making Copia want to laugh. He didnt, of course. Please...It was just a delivery. 

"Like I said... It's not necessary", he stood his ground , not needing, nor wanting Dewdrop to come along. There was silence yet again and they were now nearing Copia's private quarters, making him all the more eager to end this conversation. The ghoul however wasnt so keen on that. As should almost be expected by now. What wasnt expected though was the new approach that the man decided to put to the test. The humble tone in his voice surprised Copia, but he still didnt budge. 

"Please...", came the nice plea from behind, words sweet as honey. For reasons unknown to Copia, it made the hair on his neck stand up. He was disturbed by this reaction, but as usual, he tried not to let any emotions show in front of the ghoul. He just inhaled deeply and...stopped, realizing that he wasnt going to shake the man off. Slowly, he turned, staring him down with an expression that said that he was clearly unamused by this. 

"and what makes you think I would want you to come?" he asked him bluntly. The shameless ghoul just brought his hands together in front of his face, as if begging him to reconsider. 

"Please,..sir... I promise I will be good", his eyes had a different look in them now. A more genuine, warm one. One that said that he was maybe a little bit sorry for being an ass. He really was that desperate? Copia mused, refraining from shaking his head. He supposed that...if he said yes, maybe Dewdrop would treat him more nicely....for a while, at least. Besides, he wasnt going to be alone with him. He doubted that the rascal would try anything in Aether's presence anyway. With a sigh, he decided to give in, just to make the pestering stop. 

"Fine....", he sighed. "I will hold you to that", he ensured him, giving him a look that said that he wasnt kidding around. If the ghoul decided on acting up during their trip, he might even go so far as to drop him off somewhere along the road. He turned around and started walking again, almost missing the smile that spread Dewdrop's lips wide. 

When he entered his private quarters again, he made sure to check out the map that Papa Nihil had given to him. As his eyes scanned it, his brows slowly came together. It wasnt something that he was aware of. Their trip would probably take three hours at most. That wasnt too bad, he concluded and carefully folded the map into a little square. Good thing he had been ordered to take someone with him, or this little journey would have probably bored him to death. However, considering that he had now promised Dewdrop to tag along...the trip might not turn out to be very pleasant anyway...  
He made sure to gather a few necessities and of course the little chest and the map before heading to the garage. Funny how Papa was letting them take sister Imperator's car instead of his. It put a small smile on his face. He was probably too afraid of putting his beloved vehicle in someone else's hands. It amused Copia and he kept smiling to himself as he walked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?


	3. chapter 3

Once Copia arrived to the garage, he found that Aether was already there waiting for him. No sign of Dewdrop though... He strode over to the doors to unlock them, but as he was carrying a bag and that very important chest in his arms, he struggled with the keys. It was rather hard to balance all those things. He frowned as he pulled at the keys in his pocket. There was a fine line between doing it too hard and- Oops.. Just as he got them out, he ended up dropping them, but quickly caught them in mid air. He also accidentally caught something else. Aether's hand had automatically reached out to catch the keys. Their eyes locked for a moment before the ghoul smiled.

"Allow me", he offered and gently pulled the keys from him. Copia let him and watched in silence as the doors were being unlocked before him. He tightened his grip on the wooden chest as Aether gestured for him to step inside. It was one thing to drop some keys, but he couldnt allow that to happen to this highly important gift. He had already decided to keep it in the backseat with Dewdrop. That way, the ghoul would at least be of some use. He couldnt have the thing just bumping around on the seats back there and possibly damaging whatever was inside. He allowed Aether to also unlock the car for him so that he could put things down in the backseat. Outside of the garage, a few tiny drops of water landed on the ground, indicating that the bad weather would probably continue throughout the day. However, they would spend most of it in a car anyway, so it didnt matter much. 

Having dumped the box and the bag in the backseat, Copia slammed the door shut and headed for the driver's seat, just in time to see Dewdrop... and Rain entering the garage. He raised his eyebrows at them in a questioning manner. What was the water ghoul doing here? He opened the door to the driver's seat as he reached it, but hesitated to get in. 

"Sir, can I come too?" of course Rain was going to ask that... Well, Copia didnt really mind. Not at all. It just wasnt necessary. Then again, he had already promised Dewdrop to come, so he couldnt really deny Rain to do so. While he pondered on this, he noticed that the ghoul's head was slowly tipping to the side, like that of a curious dog. He blinked, wondering why they tended to do that...

"...Sure...Why not", he replied and finally got into the car. Without further ado, he closed the door and started the engine, giving the two ghouls a hint that it was time to get going. Aether had already taken the passenger seat, leaning back and making himself comfortable. His eyes closed and he looked really content with everything. Copia glanced at him before his gaze traveled to the rear view mirror, landing on Dewdrop as the ghoul moved into the backseat. Subconsciously, his body tensed up a little. 

"Make sure you keep that box safe", he ordered him, his eyes still set on the man. A couple of hands that didnt belong to Dewdrop suddenly came and snatched the chest instead, and his gaze moved to Rain. The ghoul met his eyes in the mirror shortly, nodding to him. That was fine. It didnt matter who took care of the box. As long as it was kept out of harm's way back there. Copia now focused his gaze ahead of him instead and released the parking brake, letting the car roll out onto the gravel road. He followed it towards the gates and patiently waited for them to open up, his fingers tapping slowly on the steering wheel. There was a sudden sound of plastic rustling in the back of the car and his gaze immediately darted to the rear view mirror. He could see Rain opening a... Was that a bag of chips? He watched for a moment as the ghoul shared it with Dewdrop and... The latter's eyes suddenly met with his. Again, he focused his gaze on the gates, regretting even watching the men in the first place. He didnt want to give fire ghoul any ideas. 

Once they were out on the road, Copia turned the radio on, as well as the windshield wipers as the rain was suddenly increasing. He glanced at the snoozing ghoul next to him, who was looking so serene and at peace in his seat. He then decided on turning the music down a bit. Could wonder what he had been doing all night to make him so tired today. He had come to understand that the ghouls were quite nocturnal, but he didnt see any of the others sleeping. Oh well. It didnt matter. Copia wasnt in need of Aether right now anyway. Not for as long as they were in the car. Unless...he needed someone to read the map for him... His gaze darted to the backseat again, just for a second before returning to the road. He supposed that he could always ask another ghoul for help with that. 

The time went by pretty fast during the ride. There was of course occasional parts of boredom, as well as some staring from the fire ghoul, but other than that, everything had been pretty pleasant. Copia was pretty sure that they were about an hour away from the destination now. That said, he did think he would need to take a look at the map now. He noted that Aether seemed to be sleeping still, and he felt bad about the idea of waking him up. Gripping the steering wheel a little harder now, he considered addressing Dewdrop about it. After all, Rain was busy keeping the extremely important box away from the dangers of the bumpy seats back there. It was sitting nicely in his lap and Copia knew it would be weird of him to ask him for help when Dewdrop had his hands free. Crap....Oh well.. 

"Dewdrop", there was a serious lack of enthusiasm in his voice as he spoke to the ghoul, and he threw a glance at him only to confirm that he had acknowledged him. 

"Yes?" the man was eager to reply, with calm eyes full of expectation as he stared at the cardinal through the mirror. 

"Would you mind looking at the map for me? It's in the bag", Copia explained, slowing down slightly as the rain was really heavy now, making it hard to see anything out there. What a mess.... 

"Of course", the fire ghoul replied, immediately looking around for said bag. Rain on the other hand had already spotted it and reached a hand out to rummage through it. Soon enough, he pulled the map from it, only to have it snatched by Dewdrop. As the fire ghoul teared it from him, it unfortunately ripped in two pieces, causing both men to freeze in fear. Their eyes slowly turned to the rear view mirror as the car came to an abrupt halt. There was silence for a moment where Copia was just sitting there, lips pursed and staring out the soaked windshield. He did want to give the two a scolding, but the more he thought about it, the more he decided to against it. Eventually, his hands slipped from the wheel and he facepalmed. He could hear Aether stirring in the seat next to him now and he sighed, applying the parking brake and pushed the door open. 

The two ghouls in the backseat were dead silent now, watching as Copia came over to throw open Dewdrop's door. The ghoul was frozen in place, his hand still clenching the ripped piece of the map. The cardinal said nothing, but motioned for him to hand over the paper, which he did without delay. 

"Sorry..", there was actually a hint of shame and sadness in the usually shameless ghoul's eyes and he watched in silence as Copia reached pass him into the car to retrieve the other piece from Rain. However, those emotions seemed to disappear from his gaze pretty fast. Perhaps he was thinking that he could make it up to him soon anyway. Whatever that would mean... When Copia had what he needed, he hurried back to his seat to look at the two map parts. There were spots of water here and there, but it was nothing that would make them unusable. 

"Is everything ok?" Aether's caring voice broke through his focus, but he kept studying the map, not acknowledging him at the moment. Another ten seconds passed before he realized that he would need to answer him. 

"Yes, everything is fine...", he ensured the ghoul and noted that the said man turned slightly to throw a glance at the backseat. According to the map, they were actually only half an hour away from the ministry. Excellent. He wasted no time, but handed the two pieces to Aether so that he could guide him the rest of the way and then released the parking brake so that they could be on their way again. The rest of the ride went pretty smooth. The ghouls in the back were still keeping quiet and Aether was helping him read the map. The rain was still heavy though and it made it slightly harder to drive. Not alot of cars could be seen out there on the road. It was quite a desolate place. 

Once they finally arrived to the estate, Copia pulled up to the big gates, noting that there were two soaked security guards waiting for them. They were both clad in black robes and hoods, only showing the lower parts of their faces. The one on the left side of the gate started moving towards the driver's side of the car, and naturally, Copia started rolling down the window. A light wind invited itself inside, sprinkling a few drops of ice cold water onto his face. 

"Hello...", he greeted the cold mannered guard, not really getting much of a response out of him. It was a bit awkward, so he decided to continue and get right to the point. "I believe you are expecting us", he said, for some reason looking to make eye contact with eyes that obviously werent there. 

"What is your name?" the man asked him grimly, seemingly unbothered by the pouring rain. It made his clothes slick to his body, making him look kind of funny and not very intimidating at all. 

"Copia...", he trailed off, thinking that maybe he should be a bit more specific. "Cardinal Copia. Papa Nihil sent us", he added, watching as the man stepped back and gestured for him to go through the gates. They slowly opened and allowed them to drive through and onto the gravel that covered most of the ground infront of the building. Since there were already some cars next to the estate, Copia figured that they should park over there. He turned the engine off once the was done and glanced at Aether who was carefully folding the map pieces. Then he turned to look at the ghouls in the back. 

"Bring the box", was all he said to them before getting out of the car, immediately getting soaked by the rain. He squinted his eyes at the door to the ministry. No one would come and greet them? He guessed they would have to ring the bell then. As he waited for everyone to get out of the car, he took a quick look around. It sure was a beautiful place. Lots of trees and vegetation. Alot more so than at home, but then again, this estate was located pretty far from town. More like on the countryside. As soon as everyone was out of the car, he locked it and hurried after them to the door. Dewdrop was the first one there, ringing the bell. It was pretty cold out there and he noticed that Aether had his arms wrapped around himself, trembling slightly. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity out there in the rain, the door finally opened and they were greeted by yet another pair of black clad men. Behind them, an older man stepped forward. He was dressed in typical priest wear, presumingly being the person that they had come to see. He looked fairly kind, until a strangely unpleasant smile spread his lips. 

"Welcome, my friends", he greeted them and gestured for them to come inside. While they did, he eyed them a little bit. "I didnt expect so many", he added and lead them further into the building. Copia glanced sideways at the ghouls and his gaze dropped to the box in Rain's hands. 

"Neither did I", he admitted and was surprised when the old man laughed. There was something odd about him, but Copia just couldnt seem to place it. The only thing that mattered though was that Papa Nihil trusted him. That was enough.... As they walked, he took notice of the nice interior. It looked very...luxurious. Suddenly, they were stopped in front of a door and he cringed as he watched Rain almost bumping into the priest. A smile spread across Dewdrop's lips, but fortunately, there were no laughs. 

"I just realized", the old man turned around to face the group, obviously seeing how wet they all were. "Perhaps you would like to dry up a bit before we get on with business. You have come a long way, after all", he said, his gaze moving between them. Naturally, all three ghouls turned their heads to look at Copia, like a bunch of dogs awaiting their next order. Said man licked his lips thoughtfully before answering. 

"..Sure", he agreed. They were in no rush anyway and his soaked clothes were starting to make him feel rather cold. The other three were still staring at him like that. He wished they would stop. Fortunately for him, the priest nodded and changed their course, now taking them into a new hallway, and eventually to a nice room with a fireplace in the back. Copia suspected that the ghouls were just as cold as him. If not colder, and he watched as Aether shivered and rubbed his stiff arms. Poor thing. 

"You may stay here for as long as you like", the priest spoke behind them as they entered the room. "Just let these two know when you are ready to see me", he continued and gestured to the two men outside the door. The two appeared just as cold as the ones they had met at the gates. There was a strangely grim atmosphere about these people. This priest also seemed to have an unusual amount of guards at his ministry. It was all a bit weird. Copia almost got the feeling that they would be supervised.... 

"I appreciate it", he replied politely, receiving yet another one of those weird smiles. "Thank you", he added quickly, and since there was nothing more to say, the priest excused himself and made sure to close the door behind him as he left. The group stayed silent for a minute and watched as Rain moved over to the table in the middle of the room to carefully place the little chest on top of it. When he turned around to face the others, he looked between them and then at the door. 

"That was weird", he said, his gaze moving to Dewdrop when the ghoul agreed. Aether on the other hand seemed busy with being cold and shivering and Copia watched as he moved closer to the fireplace. He really felt bad for him...Maybe he should...lend him him his coat... He studied his own sleeves for a moment, knowing that his clothes were just as wet as anyone's. Still, it would be better than nothing...

"Hey...", he started softly as he too came over to the fireplace, feeling so much warmer and better already. The sparkling sounds created a really cosy and serene atmosphere in the room. "You should take this", he insisted as he started removing his coat, struggling slightly as it was wet. Aether just stared at him, looking surprised and confused at the same time. Since Copia didnt receive any sort of response from the ghoul, he just silently handed him the coat, urging him to take it. That look in Aether's eyes almost made him smile, but he refrained from doing so. Eventually, the ghoul seemed to snap out of it, but he still didnt take the coat.

"Are you sure?" he sounded so surprised still, actually causing the corner of Copia's mouth to twitch upwards a little. 

"Yes. Take it", he insisted, still reaching it out to him. The man's gaze dropped to it and his hand hesitatingly came up to take it. "I mean....It's wet...but...it's better than nothing", Copia said, pleased that the ghoul would finally accept his help. He received a nod in return and Aether then proceeded with hanging the coat over his shoulders, pulling it closer around his body. He was actually looking a bit more content and relaxed already. 

"Thank you, sir", there was obvious gratitude in his voice and in his kind eyes and he turned his head to face the fireplace again. In silence, they watched the flames dance about and enjoyed the warmth that they provided for them. Copia noticed that Rain was coming up next to Aether now, his hands reaching out towards the fire to warm himself up. Of course Dewdrop would also tag along, but instead of positioning himself next to Rain, he came up next to Copia. In the process of it, the ghoul's arm brushed lightly against his arm and he decided to glance at him. He was met with that intense gaze again. Could wonder if that brush had been intentional or not. Knowing the fire ghoul and his tricks, it probably had been... However, he had actually behaved well so far. Except for some creepy staring during the car ride, of course. It did surprise him.

About fifteen minutes passed and the four decided that it was time to do what they came here for. The late afternoon would soon turn into early evening and Copia wasnt so keen on driving home in the middle of the night. Especially not in this weather. They let the guards know that they were ready to see their leader and were then lead to yet another new room. This one was pretty spacious and had very little interior. A long, dark, oval table was the only thing that stood out in there. Probably a room used exclusively for meetings. 

"Ah, Cardinal", the welcoming voice of the old priest reached his ears as they stepped inside. "Please come in". This time Copia was the one carrying the small box. It smelled slightly of wet wood and he hoped that it wouldnt be an issue...

"Uh...Yes....I never got your name", he replied hesitatingly as they moved over to the man and the two guards surrounding him. 

"Call me Father Elund", he introudced himself, bowing politely to them. "I believe that the time has come to make our little trade, yes?" that wasnt really a question, but more of a statement, and Copia nodded and watched as the man retreived something from one of the black clad men. When the object came into view, he noted that it was another small box, not at all similar to their's. It was way smaller and looked really, really old. It was easy to imagine that it had at some recent point in time been covered in cobwebs. 

"I hope that Nihil will be pleased with this", he priest almost seemed to be smirking as he handed the gift to Copia. When he got his hands on the bigger one, his eyes roamed over it like a kid's who had just been given a big bowl of candy. 

"This is wonderful", he spoke, sounding slightly excited as he handed the box to one of his guards. Then suddenly, out of the blue, came a question. "Why dont you stay for dinner?" he suggested as he turned back to the group. Like before, the ghouls looked to Copia to see what he would say. Said man turned his head to look at the nearest window. It was still pouring outside. It literally looked like someone had turned a big bucket of water upside down. 

"That's very kind of you", he started, facing the old man again. "However, it's late...and-"

"Why dont you stay the night then?" the priest interrupted him with this obvious solution to the problem. "It's quite dangerous to drive in this weather anyway", he continued and waited expectantly for an answer. Copia looked at the ghouls next to him, trying to see what they might think of it. They didnt give away any hints of not wanting to stay, so he supposed that they could. He didnt want to be rude either way.

"Sure. Why not", he replied. "Thank you", he bowed politely to the man, and the ghouls followed suit. 

"Good", the priest clapped his hands together a couple of times. "Any friends of Nihil are my friends, after all", he then turned to the guard on his right side. "Gio, would you show the gentlemen to their rooms?" he asked, receiving but a nod from him in return. Those guys werent very verbal. Not that his ghouls were especially talkative right now either, but they did at least speak words when addressed. As the guard stepped away from his master and out the door, Copia followed, and naturally, the other three tagged along. On their way to the guest rooms, he made a mental note to call Papa Nihil later and let him know that they wouldnt be coming home tonight. 

The rest of the evening went by pretty fast. They had dinner and they spent some time together in the fireplace room before everyone headed back to their own rooms to get some sleep. Copia realized that he was glad he had agreed to stay the night as he had been feeling tired all day, and even more so tonight. As he was still a bit cold, he decided to keep his now dry shirt and pants on when getting into bed. 

\------

Sometime during the night, Copia woke up. It must have been night time because the room was bathing in pitch blackness. He didnt think anything of it as he tended to wake up sometimes during the night. He just rolled over and tried getting back to sleep. That's when he heard a light scraping on what sounded like the door. His eyes shot open again and he instantly froze, wondering if he had just imagined that. Who would be scraping at his door in the middle of the night? He doubted that the priest kept any cats in the ministry, but who knew... He wouldnt allow himself to be alarmed just yet though. An old building like this was bound to make some sounds here and there. Especially at night when the temperature shifts. 

A light knock was suddenly heard and Copia froze up some more. Now that was clearly someone knocking. He couldnt deny that.... Carefully and quietly, he sat up and turned on the night lamp on the bedside table. He stared at the door for a while, feeling his heart beating faster in his chest. Was something wrong? Did something happen? He turned and put his feet on the floor, but remained seated. 

"You may come in", he heard himself blurting out to whoever was out there, and he waited nervously for them to open the door. It was so quiet that he could almost hear his own heart beating in his chest now. Only a couple of seconds passed before the door was slowly pushed open and he squinted his eyes to try and see who was out there in the hallway. As his eyes got a bit more used to the darkness, he realized that it was one of the ghouls who had come to see him.... For a moment, all he could think of was that something must have happened, but then...he recognized him as Dewdrop, and feelings of annoyance and irritation washed over him all at once. He didnt even give the man a chance to say anything.

"What are you doing here?" his tone had changed into a more cold one now and he stood, watching as the ghoul closed the door behind him. 

"I...couldnt sleep...", the younger man spoke softly, not appearing bothered by the Cardinal's change in behavior. 

"So you decided to wake me up instead?" Copia sat back down on the bed with a sigh. "I thought we agreed that you were going to behave today", he continued, obviously irritated and disappointed with the ghoul. Dewdrop didnt reply right away but seemed to be considering his next line of words. 

"I knocked first...and you said I could come in", he defended himself. Apparently that was good enough behavior from his point of view. Copia just sighed again and tore his eyes away from him. He wasnt sure if the man was just acting oblivious or if he really was that dumb. No, he couldnt be that stupid.... Eventually, he brought himself to ask the obvious question.

"and what do you want me to do about it?" he still didnt look at Dewdrop. He couldnt do it. He was just too mad, and.... too nervous. He just saw the man approaching in the corner of his eye. 

"Well...I just wanted to ask you a question", the ghoul spoke as he carefully came over to sit next to Copia, making everything ten times worse for the Cardinal. He didnt say anything just yet. He was frenetically going through options in his mind and one of them was to throw the ghoul out of the room. That would seem...a bit over the top though. If he just let him ask his stupid question he could calmly ask him to leave afterwards. Yes, that was a good enough solution to the problem. 

"What?" he didnt at all feel like using more words than necessary right now. He was upset that Dewdrop was here and that he had disrupted his sleep, which he couldnt go back to at the moment. 

"...Can I hug you...?" came the question suddenly and in an unusually hesitant tone of voice. Copia of course tensed up and looked at him in shock. He was truly speechless this time. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion all of a sudden and he couldnt get his brain to unfreeze and do something about anything. The only thing that seemed to still be working was his breathing. Dewdrop on the other hand looked calm and collected, patiently waiting for an answer. Copia snapped out of it right then and there and he looked ahead of him instead. Lots of weird feelings coursed through him at the moment and he was unsure of what they meant. He wasnt sure of what he should do anymore. He didnt hate the thought of Dewdrop hugging him, but....He also wasnt comfortable with it. All he wanted was to go back to sleep... So.... if he said yes, then this would be over with soon and he could do just that. If he said no, the ghoul would probably come up with ways to go around it somehow...

"...Fine", he gave in, cringing a little bit as he waited for it to happen. He was still not looking at Dewdrop. He just couldnt bring himself to do it. What happened next was very far from his expectations and the air was almost knocked out of his lungs as Dewdrop threw himself over him, tightly embracing him as they fell on the bed. Copia held his breath, frozen on his back with the ghoul pressed against him. He could feel his face heating up with embarrassment. Shock and anger filled him quickly and he was about to push the man off when he felt his cold nose nuzzling against his neck. For some reason, he was frozen again, unable to carry out the move. Everything was so silent.... So still. All he could hear was his own uneven breathing. Until....there was a light sniffing sound coming from Dewdrop. Was the ghoul smelling him...? His heart was beating so fast in his chest now and he knew that his face must be ridiculously red by now. Why didnt he do anything? Why did he allow the man to keep going? Was he still in shock? He didnt really think so, but he didnt want to admit that to himself. Why? He didnt know... A warm,wet touch against his skin made him gasp and inhale a shuddery breath as he realized that it was Dewdrop's tongue running up his neck. He closed his eyes hard, trying not to acknowledge the tingling sensation that was going on down there between his legs. 

He couldnt believe that he actually sort of enjoyed this... He had to admit that he was a pretty horny guy himself, but was he really that desperate to let another man have his way with him...? Right as he was considering this, Dewdrop suddenly pulled back and moved into a sitting position on his legs, studying him curiously from afar. Copia took this opportunity to try and get up himself, but was firmly slammed back onto the bed, causing another minor gasp to escape him. He stared at the ghoul, beginning to get slightly irritated by him now, but apparently not irritated enough to attempt another move like that. He watched as Dewdrop licked the sharp teeth in the upper row of his mouth, all this while keeping his lustful eyes locked with his. The hand on his chest then started to travel down his stomach, and towards Copia's crotch. This got the man a little too nervous and he quickly reached out to grab the ghoul's wrist. 

"Not here", he kept his voice hushed as if someone might hear him otherwise. Dewdrop's fingertips curled slightly on his stomach, as if to feel him, and then he tilted his head a little bit, apparently not seeing the problem. 

"Then where?" he asked and broke out of the Cardinal's grip to place his hand on the man's hardened bulge, causing him to tense up noticably. 

"...Not now..", Copia hissed, throwing a nervous glance at the door. He wanted to take the ghoul's damn hand and tear it away from him, but at the same time, it felt good having it there. Whatever move he would decide on, he was soon rendered unable to carry it out due to the hand suddenly squeezing his sensitive genitals. His eyes closed rather hard and he had to force himself to stay still and not buck his hips into that amazing touch. He hated that the ghoul had such control over him. He didnt want to do this here. Not at this place. The hand suddenly withdrew and he opened his eyes to see Dewdrop leaning down over him again, this time to press his lips hard against his mouth. Copia sort of wanted to touch the ghoul in return, but he refrained from doing so, still feeling a bit angry with him. He could of course push him off, but something inside him didnt want that. A part of him wasnt mad at all. 

As Dewdrop eagerly kissed him and licked his lips, he could feel the sharp fangs brushing against his skin, bruising it slightly. He eventually allowed himself to kiss him back, but carefully so, not wanting to fully give in to him. He was getting so aroused by the beastly ways of this ghoul. His soft growls and his pure primal lust for him. The way he touched him... He was rock hard at this point and he could tell that Dewdrop was as well as his hips started to thrust against him. The ghoul pulled back once again to lick and kiss at his neck, more hungrily than before. Copia was starting to care less and less about what he was doing, or where. He was enjoying himself way too much. Something that he could have never imagined that he would do under the fire ghoul's touch. 

Eager as ever, Dewdrop pulled back to sit again and started to shamelessly work on getting the Cardinal's pants open. This in turn made the older man's cock twitch in anticipation and he longed so much for more touches. The thought of a warm hand grabbing him down there almost drove him insane. What he had imagine didnt happen though. Instead, Dewdrop got off the bed to start removing his own pants. While he was doing this, Copia decided to do the same. Although, he remained on the bed and just simply threw his garments away onto the floor. As Dewdrop's underwear was discarded, he couldnt help but to look. He had a nice, fairly average penis...much like his own, he supposed.  
When the ghoul was done, he came back onto the bed, pulling Copia's legs apart slightly. It did of course worry the Cardinal and he gave Dewdrop a questioning look while the ghoul lustfully licked his own finger. 

"Dew...", he warned him, realizing that this was taking a different kind of turn now. Here he was, fully comfortable with the thought of them jerking each other off... But this....? The ghoul had paused, watching him as if waiting for him to say something else, but only received a slightly disapproving look in return. When no words were spoken, he slipped his hand down between Copia's legs and ran his finger up between his butt cheeks. This of course caused the Cardinal to blush again, but he didnt grab the man's arm this time. 

"You think I want that?" he asked the ghoul, brows lowered slightly. He challenged him to stop, but as per usual, Dewdrop wasnt very interested in listening to him.

"Oh.... Yes.... I think you do want this", the ghoul teased him. "Sir", he smirked at him before suddenly shoving his finger all the way inside Copia, watching as the man tensed up. There was obvious amusement in his features as he curled his finger, trying to make him squirm or moan, or anything. Copia on the other hand wasnt as amused, but like before, he didnt do anything to stop Dewdrop. He guessed his need for sexual satisfaction had taken over too much for him to go back now. Besides, he was a rather sexual man anyway, so he wasnt against trying new things. The finger rubbing him made his sensitive insides throb lightly and he found himself actually wanting more of it. For the first time since Dewdrop had come into his room this night, he allowed himself to relax and let the ghoul keep pleasuring him. It went on for a while with some occasional touching of his penis. His whole body was yearning for the other man now, but he didnt want to be too obvious about it. If Dewdrop thought that he was going to just surrender to him, he thought wrong. 

After a few minutes had passed and Copia had really gotten into it, the finger was withdrawn and Dewdrop moved off the bed without a word. The Cardinal was of course perplexed by this and he heaved himself up on his elbows to watch him seemingly look for something. 

"What are you doing?" he asked, frustrated with the ghoul for leaving him hanging like that. Dewdrop kept looking around a little and then gathered his pants from the floor, hurridly putting them back on again. 

"I'll be right back", was the only thing that was said and the ghoul was then quickly out of the room. Copia decided to sit up finally, wondering what the man could possibly be looking for. As he slowly stroked his cock, it dawned on him.... A lubricant of some sort. Maybe... But where would he find that? And with all those guards hanging around? Damn that ghoul if he got them in trouble....

He flopped back onto the bed and laid there for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling and thinking about how weird the last few days had been. From one unruly ghoul messing with him, to this...sexual intercourse..... Crazy. Another few minutes passed by and he was starting to worry that someone might have caught Dewdrop out there. Fortunately, he didnt need to be concerned for very long as the door suddenly opened and in came the said ghoul. 

"Where were you?" Copia demanded to know, annoyed with him for just leaving like that. The ghoul just closed the door and came to the bed, once again getting out of his pants. 

"You'll see", he replied, earning a meaning look from the Cardinal. He didnt really seem to care though, but moved up onto the bed, once again positioning himself inbetween the man's legs. This time, he grabbed his hips and pulled him closer, nudging at his butt with the tip of his cock. Their eyes met again for a moment and Dewdrop lightly pushed in between the cheeks. Copia was feeling strangely relaxed at this point. He was actually secretly excited about doing this. He also noted that Dewdrop's cock seemed to be drenched in some sort of oil, allowing the tip to easily slip inside of him. He inhaled a shuddery breath as more of the lenght filled him up. It was a strange sensation... Not in an unpleasant way though. Nor did it hurt. Maybe it was because Dewdrop was going so slow and carefully. 

Copia closed his eyes and was about to grab his own cock when Dewdrop suddenly lowered himself on top of him, slipping his arms in underneath him to hold him tightly to him. As he gently pushed the rest of his cock inside, he let out a sort of feral sounding grunt. This time, Copia allowed himself to embrace the ghoul. It was sort of nice... Perhaps we would come to like Dewdrop a bit better after this... He could feel him pulling out slightly and then pushing back in again. Inbetween them, his cock was getting rubbed every time the ghoul moved, and it made Copia almost want to moan. He kept quiet though, listening to Dewdrop's soft groans every now and then. Again, the ghoul was nuzzling his neck and he started to move a little bit faster, thrusting inside with more force now. It did make Copia feel like he was getting slightly bruised, but he didnt really mind it much. He was more focused on the tingling sensation that was building up in his cock. He knew that he wouldnt last for much longer, and neither would Dewdrop considering his determined thrusting. The heavy breathing in his ear, together with the growling sounds were quickly pushing him towards the edge. 

Dewdrop picked up his speed even more, almost slamming into Copia now, forcing little gasps and grunts out of him every now and then. Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through his shoulder and he gasped, moaning in pain. He realized that Dewdrop had just sunk his teeth into him. The ghoul made a muffled, satisfied sound as he came, still thrusting eagerly into him. Copia could feel the intense throbbing of the cock inside him, as well as the sticky, warm fluids filling him up. Even though he hadnt been the one to do the work, he was still panting nearly as much as Dewdrop. As the teeth were suddenly pulled from his flesh, he yelped and glared a little at the ghoul, who was now pulling back to get off of him. It didnt go unnoticed of course, and the man smiled sheepishly at him. 

"Sorry", he apologized and pulled away to sit next to him. Nothing was said for a while and Copia decided to grab his own cock to make himself come, but was immediately stopped by Dewdrop. The ghoul's hand had grabbed onto his, gently removing it and replacing it with his own. As it started to jerk him off, Copia closed his eyes and relaxed, enjoying the wonderful sensation. It intensified pretty quickly and it didnt take many seconds to push him over the edge. He would have wished for Dewdrop to blow him, but...there could always be a next time... When he finally came, he bucked his hips up into the hand, letting out a soft grunt. He hadnt felt this good in a while, but still, he wasnt sure if he regretted this or not...

His heavy breathing slowed a little and he glanced at Dewdrop, taking in the view. The ghoul's chest was still expanding profoundly with each breath and there was quite alot of cum still trickling down his softening cock. The sight reminded Copia of his own mess and he suddenly felt an urge to clean himself off. Without a word, he pushed himself up and off the bed, heading towards the room's private bathroom with fast steps. Once the warm, soothing water was running down his lower body, he started going through the whole event in his mind. A part of him regretted giving in to Dewdrop and being so vulnerable with him, but another part of him....wanted to do it again. He loved sex. It was just that this particular ghoul tended to get on his nerves alot. As he washed himself off, he noticed how much cum was running down the drain. That was quite a load... Could wonder if that was a normal amount of semen for a ghoul, or if the guy had just been extremely horny. 

Copia smirked to himself and turned the water off. The tiny pricks on his shoulder were still bleeding a bit, but there wasnt much he could do about it. Drying himself off with a towel, he exited the bathroom to head back to the bed. It was certainly going to be nice to get some more sleep. He did notice that Dewdrop was still in his bed, seemingly waiting for him. He supposed that he didnt mind him staying the night. After all, it was a rather big bed for one person anyway. The two still didnt exchange any words as Copia dropped the towel and climbed into bed, pulling the cover over himself as he laid down. He also made sure to turn the night lamp off before rolling over on his side, away from the ghoul. The pitch darkness instantly made him feel sleepy, but his brain was as alert as ever. There were lots of things swirling around in there. He would try to push all those thoughts away for tonight though. There would be plenty of time for him to think in the morning. 

Behind him, he could hear Dewdrop stirring, but didnt think anything of it until an arm suddenly wrapped around him and a warm body was pressed against his back. He was too tired to decide if he was annoyed with it or not, so he would just let it be. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it took me a while to update. At least you finally got something juicy to read, right?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys again for your support ^^

The next morning, Copia woke up to the sun shining in his face and he had to squint to even be able to open his eyes. At first, he had forgotten where he was, but then it all came back to him... Especially the esapade from last night... He rolled over on his back to check on Dewdrop, but was faced with an empty bed instead. He supposed that the ghoul must have become bored and left at some point. A yawn forced its way out of him and he pushed himself up to sit, about to swing his legs over the edge of the bed when a stinging pain stopped him. It definitely came from his poor butt. He supposed it was to be expected though from his nightly adventure.... He made a face. It wasnt that bad. It was mostly just uncomfortable, but he would try to ignore it. 

The bed was a bit of a mess, so he decided on tidying it up, as well as putting the towel back in the bathroom, before he did anything else. He had to admit that seeing Dewdrop again this morning would be pretty awkward. For him at least. The ghoul just didnt seem to feel awkward about anything really. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror briefly and was reminded of the small wounds on his shoulder. They seemed to be healing up just fine, and unfortunately, he would be able to conceal them with his shirt. He sure didnt want anyone to see them... Speaking of shirts... He really should get dressed and pick the others up so that they could be on their way home already. Father Elund had been so hospitable and taken such good care of them, and he didnt want to burden him with their prescence any longer than necessary. Besides, they all had work to do back at the ministry. 

Once Copia had gotten dressed and brought the little box with him, he exited the room to see if the ghouls were ready to leave. To his surprise, none of them could be found in their assigned rooms, so he turned around a bit, probably looking just as confused as he felt. Eventually, he made the decision to go downstairs and see if he could find them there. At the top of them though, he was stopped by a guard who was very keen on knowing where he was going. Apparently you couldnt be left wandering around the place unsupervised... Could wonder what they were protecting within these walls that was so valuable and important. It was fine by him though. He didnt mind the company and he politely followed the man down the stairs to see his crew.

They all happened to be gathered in the fireceplace room, seemingly just waiting for him in there, and his fingers clutched the little box harder as he entered, feeling a bit sweaty in the presence of Dewdrop. The said ghoul just smiled impishly at him and the other two stood. 

"Sir", Aether addressed him and his gaze dropped to the box in Copia's hands. "Are you ready to leave?" he asked, making eye contact with him again. 

"Of course", he was quick to reply and to put on an act of everything being just dandy. "Of course....", he repeated himself, obviously a bit absentminded at the moment. The ghouls seemed to start gathering their things then, and he remained there, silently thinking and feeling. That was until he was suddenly handed something. It snapped him out of his little bubble of thougths and he looked at Aether who was now standing before him, reaching his coat out for him to take. Oh....right...That. The corner of his mouth tugged upwards slightly as he accepted it. He didnt feel a need to put it on right now though. 

"Thank you...", he said, now shifting his attention to the two other ghouls. His mouth opened, but Rain was already speaking, so he closed it again. 

"I just need to use the bathroom", the man almost sounded apologetic. That was fine though. Even if Copia longed to get back home, they were in no rush really. Besides, he could use this time to thank father Elund and to say his farewells. 

"I'll see you out by the car then", he announced and left the ghouls to try and get a hold of the priest. At least he thought that he had left them, but apparently he had a tail following him. He didnt need to look behind him to know who it was, and so he just continued on. He had gotten quite used to this sort of behavior anyway...

Like earlier, he was accompanied by one of the guards stationed outside the room and was silently lead to see father Elund. All this time, he could feel Dewdrop's eyes on him. He supposed that he was a bit flattered. At least he wasnt angry with him anymore. Whether accepting his behavior was a good idea or not, he didnt know, but he supposed he would find out. He couldnt really imagine the ghoul doing anything worse than what he had already done anyway. 

Once they arrived to the entrance hall, the priest was already there to see them off, his hands neatly folded in front of his stomach. As they came closer, he gave the two a fairly normal smile, compared to the other day. 

"Father Elund", Copia started softly and took the last few steps up to the man. "I"- he froze when he suddenly felt an arm fall on his shoulders, wrapping slightly around them. That damn ghoul.... He really had some guts.... He tried to unfreeze his brain as all he was doing right now was to stare the priest dead in the eye, and he knew that he must be looking pretty petrified. He eventually managed to pull himself together though and to continue the conversation fairly normally. 

"..I must thank you for your generous courtesy", he said and reached his free hand out to shake the other man's. 

"Oh, it was nothing", the priest insisted, waving it off. "It has been nice having guests for once", he added and walked with them to the door. At this moment, Copia was finally rid of the arm around him. The older man seemed to suddenly think that something was amiss and he gave him a slightly puzzled look.

"Where are the rest of your associates..?" he wondered as they stopped in the doorway. Before answering, Copia caught sight of the driveway outside, noting that it didnt seem to be raining today. That would make their drive home a whole lot easier. 

"They needed to use the bathroom", he replied, actually not knowing the reason to why Aether had stayed behind. "I'm sure they'll be here any minute now", he ensured the man and stepped through the doorway. As soon as his feet connected with the gravel outside, he turned to say goodbye to father Elund and to thank him yet again. Now all that was left was to wait for the remaining ghouls to show up, and what better place to do so than in the car? Today was just as cold as yesterday, meaning that the temerature in the car must be nearly the same. It would need some warming up before they left.   
As they walked towards it, Copia couldnt help but to address Dewdrop's inappropriate behavior back there in the hall. 

"Could you be a bit more discret?" he asked, obviously irritated with him. He expected everyone to behave when on a mission like this, but the ghoul just raised his eyebrows slightly at him in return, as if he didnt see how there had been anything wrong with his move. Nothing more was said as they reached the car to get inside. It definitely needed to be heated up, and Copia got right to it, only being slightly delayed by the fact that the fire ghoul had decided to sit in the passenger's seat. 

Once the car was started and all they could do was to wait, he decided to rest his eyes a bit. He was tired from having his sleep disrupted two nights in a row, and they had sort of a long drive home. He leaned back, resting his head against the back support and inhaled deeply. He longed to get back home to his own bed. He knew that he would have to spend the whole afternoon working though, but the mere thought of getting to sleep later was satisfying enough. At first, he thought he had imagined it, but then he felt i again. Fingers were lightly scratching at the back of his neck, occasionally brushing through his hair. He of course opened his eyes to give Dewdrop a meaning look. 

"Would you stop that?" he asked and turned his head to look out the window on his side of the car. The hand stilled for a moment and was then withdrawn. He didnt care to see the ghoul's reaction. He was just tired and sore and a bit annoyed at the moment. The silence in the car was almost deafening for the coming few minutes and he started to regret being so grumpy towards Dewdrop. He told himself that the ghoul would be fine though.

Ah, finally the other two showed up on the driveway, making Copia eager to get going. He handed the box and his coat to Dewdrop then and waited for the men to get seated. Once that was done, he pulled out of the driveway, back through the gates and out onto the road. The drive home went by pretty slowly, and definitely more quietly than yesterday. He had some thoughts to sort out, and he supposed that Dewdrop did too... Or maybe he didnt... He still didnt know his new associates very well, but a part of him was actually curious about the fire ghoul... 

\--------

Once those three hours had passed and they were back home at the ministry, they all split up to go about their own businesses, and Copia's happened to be the task of delivering the gift to Papa Nihil. As he walked, he curiously wondered what was inside the box. Perhaps he would get to see it, but he suspected that Papa would keep this one a secret just as much as the previous one. When going around the corner, entering the hallway that lead to the man's office, he was surprised to see him outside of it. He was apparently in a conversation with a sister, and Copia came to a stop a few meters from them, not wanting to intrude. As he waited for them to finish talking, he tried to surpress a yawn. It was the fifth one this past thirty minutes.... He really was tired... 

It wasnt until about a minute later that he realized that his eyes had closed, when he was suddenly addressed. A little bit embarrassed, he opened them to look at Papa Nihil. The man didnt wait for him to gather himself, but snatched the box right out of his hands with a pleased expression on his face. 

"Finally!" he cheered, examining the gift, only stopping to watch as Copia yawned big. He then cleared his throat and seemed to put on a more serious demeanor. 

"So...? Did everything go well?" he wanted to know, raising his eyebrows expectantly at the Cardinal. 

"It did", he replied, even sounding tired now. He felt that maybe he had said too little and so he decided to add to it. "Father Elund treated us more than well", he said and blinked tiredly, struggling to focus his gaze at the moment. 

"Mhm...", Papa Nihil replied thoughtfully. "Good. Good", he added and suddenly seemed eager to leave to check out his new gift. "You look tired", he pointed out suddenly then, causing Copia to make an effort to look more alert. "You should take the rest of the day off", he patted his arm in a comforting manner. 

"No, it's fine", Copia insisted, trying to seem less tired now. "But thank you for your concern", he continued, struggling profoundly not to let another yawn escape him. All he needed was some coffee and then he would be just fine. He was sure of it. 

"Whatever you say, Cardinal", Papa Nihil shook his head a little before he turned to withdraw to his office, leaving Copia feeling like he had failed miserably at being convincing. Oh well... Back to work. But first...Coffee. He headed towards the kitchen then, longing to get some new energy in him. It was extremely tempting to just skip it and go straight to bed though. Soft. Warm. Comforting. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier with each blink and he couldnt help but to imagine getting under those nice, silky covers. Another vision also appeared before his inner eye, making him want to snap out of his day dreaming. The memories of last night were merging with the image in his head. The image of getting into his bed, and Dewdrop being there... He shook his head and decided to steer his thoughts in another direction. 

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. He struggled to get that image of the fire ghoul out of his mind. It was actually harder than he had expected. When he finally reached the kitchen, he throw open the doors, almost storming into the room to get his much needed beverage. What he didnt know was that he had almost knocked Rain over in the process. It wasnt until one of the doors connected with the poor ghoul that Copia took notice of his presence, making him stop dead in his tracks. He was met with a slightly sad expression and he watched in silence as Rain rubbed the side of his head in pain. Guilt and shame immediately washed over Copia and he stepped closer to the ghoul.

"Rain...I'm sorry", he said softly, apologetically, unsure of what to do, or what more to say. 

"It's fine, sir", the man mumbled, looking a bit uncomfortable and eventually breaking eye contact. He then proceeded with turning and moving further into the room, walking along the big table in the middle. Copia watched him for a moment before he went over to the coffee machine on one of the counters, a bit more low-key now. He could sense the ghoul moving around slowly in the background as he turned the machine on. It soon started to make that familiar sound of boiling water and he waited patiently for that wonderful life energy to start dripping down into his cup. In the meantime, he could see Rain coming up next to him by the counter, but nothing was said. As seconds passed and it was starting to feel a bit awkward, Copia decided to speak up.

"..Is everything alright?" he asked him, eyes still on his cup. Coffee was finally starting to drip into it and it made him feel better already. 

"Yeah...", was all he got for an answer and he turned his head slightly to look at him. The ghoul had his gaze set on the counter, running a fingertip slowly back and forth on it, like a shy kid. Copia was used to them being a little weird, so he didnt think of it as anything out of the ordinary. When his cup was finally filled up, he grabbed it and headed towards the doors, trying to carefully drink a little of it as he walked. Rain's voice distracted him though and he slowed down a bit.

"Are you going to work?" the ghoul asked, still remaining in the same spot as before. Copia just confirmed this with a humming sound and then continued on out of the kitchen. That's when he realized that he should probably get some fresh air in him. Working this afternoon would be tough and he would need any help he could get. He downed half of his coffee quickly, just looking to get that kick of energy as soon as possible. Instead of heading to his office, he made a different turn and made his way towards the garden at the back of the building. Through the big windows, he thought he could spot the silhouette of a person. His thoughts instantly went o Dewdrop, for some reason. A reason that wasnt very clear to him. When he reached the doors, which were already opened, he noted that the person out in the garden was not the fire ghoul, but Aether. He was currently up by the tree line, seemingly looking around for something. 

The moment that Copia stepped outside and stopped to drink some more coffee, the ghoul approached him, looking determined, and he wasnt left to his own thoughts for more than mere seconds before the man had addressed him. 

"Sir", Aether's ever so respectful and caring voice forced him to look up from his cup as the ghoul came up to him. "Have you seen Dewdrop?" he was asked, which didnt strike him as a weird question, until the man added more to it. "I cant find him anywhere", he continued and watched as the Cardinal downed the last of his coffee. 

"Is that unusual?" Copia asked, a bit sceptical about Aether's concern for the other ghoul. 

"Yeah...but I guess he'll show up soon enough", the ghoul said, still not sounding convinced though. This caused Copia to suspect that maybe the fire ghoul was upset with him. He did notice that his behavior had changed after he had rejected him in the car this morning. He didnt believe that Dewdrop was a guy who needed to be coddled with though. He was sure that he would come around when he was done sulking. If that was even the reason for his absence. 

"Yes... Dont worry about it", he replied and gave Aether a brief smile. "I need to get back to work now", he added and then headed back inside the building with the ghoul on his heels. 

"Of course, sir", the man replied kindly, walking with him for a moment before they split up into different hallways. Even though Copia knew that Dewdrop was a big boy, he couldnt help but to feel slightly bad for him. If he was upset, it was probably his fault. He should try to be more...approachable the next time they met. 

The silence and the dim lights that greeted him once he had locked himself in his quarters was more than welcome. Very much needed. It gave him the energy that he needed to get on with work. It was hard not to get sleepy again though when sitting down by the desk, and he rested his head in the palm of his hand for a moment. The more paperwork he went through, the more tired he got. It was as if the coffee had had no effect on him whatsoever. Perhaps another cup would do... At least he managed to get something done for the two coming hours and that was good enough for him. As he still had a tiny bit of energy in him, he decided to see what the ghouls were up to. He had actually come to sort of enjoy their company lately, and it did get pretty lonely down there in his private chambers. 

First of all though, he needed more coffee. Again, he headed to the kitchen to down another cup, even faster than the last time, before steering his steps up the stairs to his associates' quarters. When he arrived, the only ghoul that he found in there in the common room was Aether. The man was apparently reading a book in one of the chairs, but he took his eyes off it when he noticed Copia in the doorway.

"Hey..., the Cardinal nodded to him and invited himself into the room, looking around tiredly to see if there really werent any other ghouls in there. 

"Hi", Aether replied, watching him come further into the room. Copia eventually stopped and made eye contact with him again. 

"Is Dewdrop back?" he wondered, having hoped to see him in there, being his normal, mischevious self. That would have made it easier for him to believe that the ghoul was ok and not really upset with him after all. He was starting to feel even more guilty now, assuming that he might still be missing. 

"He's in his room", came the answer then, surprising him a little. He hadnt expected that at all, but he was glad to hear it. Hopefully, he was still here then, because he needed to talk to him. 

"Oh....Thanks", he replied, not caring to stay another second, but headed back out into the hallway and towards Dewdrop's room. Fortunately, he knew his way to it since he had been invited there the other day... Today's visit would hopefully be less awkward... When he stopped outside the door seconds later, he hesitated about knocking. What was a good way to go about this issue? Whether the ghoul was upset with him or not, he knew that he needed to apologize to him. He eventually knocked and waited. No one seemed to come to the door anytime soon and about thirty seconds passed where absolutely nothing happened. He suspected that he might have missed him then. Should he knock again? Or should he come back later? 

He almost jumped when a voice suddenly came through the door, and he had to focus to try and hear what was being said. The words had sounded like they had been yelled at him from further into the room. He was pretty sure that he had been invited inside anyway, and so he took a chance at it and opened the door. Further into the room, he spotted Dewdrop by a desk, his legs pulled up to his chin and his arm and hand were stretched out as if writing or drawing something on the paper before him. He looked surprised to see Copia. He was probably the last person that he had expected a visit from. 

"Sorry for my intrusion", Copia started, hesitatingly moving into the room as Dewdrop turned back to his scribbling. He got no response, making him fairly certain that his suspicions had been true.... So...he continued. 

"Listen....I just want to apologize...for earlier", he spoke quietly, stopping next to the ghoul, who was still not paying attention to him. All he got in response was what sounded like muttering, and he supposed that the man was more upset with him than he had anticipated....

"...Dew...", he started again and a soft growling errupted from the ghoul, making Copia fall silent for a moment. He considered his next words for a while, but then decided on another kind of approach. One that he would regret. His hand landed softly on the man's shoulder, but it was obviously not appreciated and his arm was immediately slapped away, and rather hard at that. It really surprised Copia and he couldnt imagine what was going through the ghoul's mind at this time. He figured that it might be best to just leave him alone. Had he really hurt him that much? Or was it just his temper acting up? 

"..Sorry", he simply apologized and decided to get out of there. When exiting the room, he made sure to close the door behind him, rubbing his arm a little bit. He couldnt help but to feel slightly hurt by Dewdrop's actions. Now he wasnt just tired, but also in a bad mood, but he still decided on going back to the common room rather than to isolate himself for the rest of the day. Aether was still in there reading when Copia entered and sat on the couch. He tiredly put his elbow on the arm support and leaned his head on his hand. This couch was really soft and warm, of course making him sleepy again. There was also a fire going in the fireplace, making everything even more cosier and easier to want to close his eyes. 

"Did you find him?" Aether asked suddenly, making Copia move his unfocused gaze from the wall and to him instead. 

"Yeah..", he replied, saying no more. He didnt want to discuss it. Right now, he just wanted to rest his eyes for a bit and once he closed them, he realized how tired he was. It felt too good and it made it hard for him to want to open them again. He would keep them closed for just another minute. Just one... The sounds of pages turning, as well as the soft sparkling sounds from the fireplace were slowly rocking him to sleep without him realizing it. 

\------------

He woke up some time later, but he didnt open his eyes yet. He just acknowledged the fact that he had slipped down into a lying position with his head resting on the arm support. He also thought that he felt a blanket on him, which he didnt remember having there with him when he fell asleep. Also, something soft touched his cheek. Maybe that was what had woken him up in the first place. As he was suddenly more awake, he recognized the soft touch as fingers stroking his skin and flinched, immediately jumping up into a sitting position. 

Who he was faced with was none other than Dewdrop, who was sitting there next to him on the couch. He just stared at him in confusion as the ghoul started grinning at him. 

"Did I scare you?" the man asked, apparently amused by Copia's reaction. It took the said man a moment to get out of the drowsy state that he was in, and he looked around, seeing no one else in there. 

"...Sort of...", he replied, glad that Dewdrop didnt seem to be mad at him anymore. But for long had he been sleeping? 

"What time is it?" he asked hurriedly, watching as the ghoul turned his head to look at a spot on the wall, and he followed his gaze to the clock that was hanging up there. Six pm?! He sighed, regretting having even closed his eyes in the first place. Then again, he supposed that he had probably needed the rest. 

"You look cute when you sleep", Dewdrop said charmingly all of a sudden, his eyes beaming with affection. It actually making Copia's heart melt a little bit and he allowed himself to smile briefly. 

"I dont know about that", he replied and just watched the man in silence for a moment, wondering if maybe he had come to accept his apology. 

"I'm sorry for hitting you", the ghoul then suddenly admitted, surprising Copia again. He hadnt really thought of Dewdrop as someone who was very sorry for anything. He appreciated it though. 

"and I'm sorry for...being....less than friendly with you this morning..", he replied, watching the ghoul for any signs of him accepting his apology. The man said nothing in return, but climbed up closer to him to lean in and softly press his lips to his. 

"You can always make it up to me", he hummed against his mouth and kissed him again. Copia returned it, closing his eyes and enjoyed the affection that was given to him. He had to admit that he was starting to like the feeling of Dewdrop's soft lips against his. He wouldnt claim to have any romantic feelings towards him.... Or did he? He told himself that he was just enjoying the intimacy that they shared. Soon, he broke the kiss and looked around once more, not thinking of this room as an appropriate place for them to do this. 

"How?" he asked, just teasing the ghoul. He knew exactly what it was that he wanted from him, and he didnt mind it at all. This just caused Dewdrop to grin again and he then pulled away to get off the couch. 

"Wait here", he told Copia, leaving the man confused. What was he up to now? Had he gotten the wrong idea about his intentions? Well, he wasnt going to just sit around on this couch no more. If he did, there was a big possibility of him falling asleep again. As he waited for Dewdrop to return, he paced back and forth a little bit, taking the time to look around the room. He noticed the pool table up by the wall and walked over to it, thinking that he should challenge the boys to a game some day soon. Give them a run for their money. He smirked and moved back towards the couch, yawning and glancing at the doorway, wondering if Dewdrop would be back anytime soon. 

He was starting to feel real hungry now and he realized that he still hadnt had anything to eat today. He could at least get himself some water while he was waiting, and so he headed over to the bar counter, picking up a glass as the rounded it. Right as he was about to place the glass under the tap, he heard a noise from the doorway and stopped what he was doing to look up. Dewdrop was apparently back, but he still proceeded with pouring some water into his glass. He stopped himself right as he was about to bring it to his lips though, noting that the man had Rain with him... 

Copia didnt know if the ghoul had just happened to tag along or if Dewdrop was up to something... The fire ghoul said nothing but just smirked at him, and he watched as Rain moved further into the room. Silently, Dewdrop's finger was now beckoning for him to come over, but Copia wanted to drink his water in peace first. He took his sweet time, and when he felt he was done, he obliged and came over to the man, giving him a meaning look as he neared him. 

"I have an idea that I think you'll like", the ghoul said with an obvious suggestive tone to his voice. It made Copia a bit curious, but it wasnt something he wanted to discuss in there. 

"Let's take this conversation elsewhere", he replied, his voice hardly above a whisper. Dewdrop just kept smirking at him and Copia could hear Rain moving in the background. 

"I think right here will be just fine", Dewdrop insisted, moving his hand to gently grasp Copia's crotch. This of course caught him off guard and he froze, his cheeks turning slightly red. When he heard the other ghoul moving closer, he realized that the two must be in on this together. He didnt know if he should feel flattered, or betrayed that they had been conspiring behind his back. Two arms suddenly wrapped around his chest and waist from behind, and he let them. It was a struggle to try and stay mad at them, because in all honesty, he was pretty excited about this. Dewdrop sure was full of good ideas... He let his eyes close for a moment, enjoying how Rain cuddled him and nuzzled his cheek against the side of his neck. He was more focused on the hand on his genitals though. He was getting real fired up already, feeling more horny than ever. Having two hot men touching him and pleasuring him sure was wonderful and exciting. 

His eyes opened again and he smirked at Dewdrop, reaching out to grab his crotch in return. There was a noticeable change of tension in the ghoul's body right then and there, and it seemed to have triggered something in him. The lust in his eyes grew more intense and his grip on the Cardinal's crotch tightened, causing the man to let out a weak little moan. 

"You're a bad ghoul", Copia groaned, still managing to smirk at him and he gripped Dewdrop's crotch harder in return. The man seemed to stop breathing for a moment and then he moved closer, almost making their bodies touch. Their mouths were also very close together now, but Dewdrop kept himself at bay, just licking his own lips teasingly. The arms that were wrapped around him started to find their way in under his shirt, impatiently pulling it up to grab at his naked body. The hands were firm and eager, yet gentle and Copia was growing extremely impatient himself by now. His whole body was yearning for the two ghouls and he couldnt help but to arch into Rain, going insane for his touches. 

A sound suddenly startled the three of them and they all froze, listening as footsteps were coming up the stairs. They seemed to be in a hurry. The two ghouls were quick to let Copia go, who desperately pulled his shirt back down, adjusting it as well as fixing his hair. It didnt take many seconds before the owner of the footsteps came into view out in the hallway, in the form of a very upset sister. 

"Cardinal!" she panted, her face twisted into an expression of horror and desperation. "You must come, quick!" she exclaimed, only receiving shocked stares in return. "It's Papa Nihil!" she added hurriedly and started making her way back down the stairs. After exchanging looks with the ghouls, Copia followed her. Both Dewdrop and Rain stayed behind though, not daring to go with them without being ordered to do so.


	5. chapter 5

Copia's heart was beating fast in his chest as he hurried after the sister. What could have happened? Was Papa's life in danger? The way to wherever they were going felt like an eternity and it only fueled his anxiety. He noticed that they werent going in the direction of the man's office. They werent going anywhere that was that familiar to him. Of course he had been to every room in this building at some point in time, but there were just places where he never went. It wasnt until he had been following the woman in silence for a couple of minutes that he decided on actually asking what was going on. Right then though, she slowed down near an open door and lead him inside. He hadnt noticed until now, but they were apparently in the medical wing and his heart dropped as he saw Papa Nihil's lifeless body in there on one of the beds. His eyes were closed and his skin was very pale. He looked...dead... from where Copia was standing in the doorway. He had just stopped there without realizing it. 

"What's going on?" he asked no one in particular, his voice confused and a bit unsteady. Surrounding the old man was a...doctor? As well as a young woman who appeared to be a nurse. They seemed to be examining him. 

"We dont know..", the sister answered him, her voice soft and low, and she looked just as concerned as he felt. "These marks just started appearing on him and...", she fell silent then, as if someone had hit a pause button, and just stared at the medical staff by the bed. Copia swallowed. Marks..? He wasnt sure of what she meant by that. At least Papa didnt seem to be dead? But he looked so motionless and...well...dead.

"Is he....?" he started, staring at the old man. He was afraid to ask and he hoped that the sister would understand what he was getting at. Unfortunately, she just turned her sorrowful gaze to him, silently watching him and waiting for him to continue. He licked his lips nervously, realizing that he would have to spell it out for her. "Is he alive...?" he finally managed to get out and she looked surprised now, as if realizing that she should have been more informative.

"Yes! Yes......", she nodded and looked over to the bed again. "..So far..", she added and fell silent again. Copia followed her gaze to Papa and then he watched as the doctor seemed to be extracting something from the old man. 

"Can I...?" he started quietly, gesturing towards the bed in a silent request to go over there. The sister just nodded to him and he slowly, carefully made his way across the floor. As he neared the bed, he made eye contact with the nurse. The doctor also seemed to have noticed his prescence as he suddenly turned his head to glance at him. 

"Hello...", Copia greeted both of them before his gaze fell on Papa on the bed. He looked terrible.... His heart dropped as he noticed the marks that the sister had mentioned. His shirt had been removed, exposing the various strange wounds on his arms, chest and face. On his hands were ones that looked like burns, while the rest resembled deep scratches. It was a truly shocking sight. Not to mention strange. 

"Cardinal...", a raspy, weak voice snapped him out of his slightly shocked state and he widened his eyes for a moment. 

"Papa..?" he stepped closer to the bed, and the nurse moved out of his way a little bit. 

"Dont touch him", the doctor warned him, making him stop dead in his tracks. "We dont know yet if it's contagious." Copia just nodded to him and decided to stay where he was. Close, but still at a safe distance from any possible, accidental touching. 

"Papa...", he repeated himself, pausing for a couple of seconds. "Were you attacked?" he asked, not being able to see how those cuts would have been the results of a desease. A good amount of seconds passed and his concern grew deeper as he waited for an answer that never seemed to come. He wondered if Sister Imperator knew about this. As far as he knew, she wasnt here. 

"....No...", Papa's voice suddenly broke through the silence, getting everyone's attention. Despite the state that he was in, that familiar annoyance and bitterness still seemed to shine through. "I...was...", he seemed to pause to catch his breath. "..just..sitting...on the toilet....", his voice sounded like that of a dying man. If the circumstances had been different, Copia might have laughed. "...minding my own...business....", he fell silent again and nothing more seemed to come out of him. Not for a while. Everytime this happened, Copia feared that Papa might have passed. He swallowed, feeling his heart beat increase and he turned to face the sister in the doorway. 

"Does Sister Imperator know about this..?" he asked her, thinking it strange that she wasnt involved here. The woman just nodded again.

"But she's out of town", she said, shaking her head and going back to looking at Papa on the bed. Copia followed her gaze and then looked between the doctor and the nurse. Right then, that raspy voice quietly came through to them again, and as before, it had everyone's attention. 

"I was just....minding...my own business.... and......suddenly...", he coughed a little and slowly forced his eyes open. It seemed to have been a great effort to him. "There...was...pain.....but......there was no one......No one...there...", he coughed some more, making the doctor step in to advice him not to use his voice anymore right now. He then turned to the sister by the door. 

"We will examine the samples and let you know if there is anything we can do", he told her and then he started to gather his things. Copia was just standing there in silence, not knowing what to do or what to feel. If he didnt know any better, he would think of this as the doings of a demon. As they were in the favor of the Devil though, and doing his bidding, he didnt see how that was possible. It didnt make any sense. Unless.... Their lord was displeased with them in some way.... He couldnt think of why that would be though. He snapped out of his deep thoughts when the two guests were suddenly moving to leave the bedside, and his unfocused gaze followed them to the door. What were they supposed to do now? Just wait..? He watched as they said their goodbyes and his brain started to try and come up with solutions to this horrible situation. Papa were no longer making any attempts at speaking, or to move, and he supposed that there wasnt really anything he could do for him. Still..he wanted to try. There had to be something he could do, right? The sister that had seen the doctor and his assistant off was now moving into the room, so he decided to ask her about it.

"Is there anything I can do?" he wondered, watching intensely as she seemed to be thinking this through. For a moment, her gaze traveled to Papa before returning to Copia and she just shook her head solemnly at him. 

"We're going to treat his wounds, but other than that, there isnt much we can do..", she explained. There was clearly sorrow in her eyes as she said this, and Copia simply nodded, feeling so frustrated with not being able to help. 

"I understand..", he spoke quietly and looked down at Papa again. His eyes had closed again and he looked so peaceful somehow.... Aside from the obvious wounds and the paleness of his skin, of course. He was almost starting to believe that he may have passed away.... No....He didnt want to think that. Even though the man tended to be a bit grumpy, Copia still cared a great deal about him. He had been his boss for years, after all. 

"Papa..", he made an attempt to communicate with the old man, hoping that he wouldnt turn out to be dead just yet. Again, some time passed, and as before, it made him pretty nervous. 

"...What..?" came the reply then, sooner than he had expected, and he realized that he hadnt fully thought of what to say. 

"I....uh...I'll be back soon", he promised, feeling bad about leaving him in there in the first place. He knew that the sisters would take great care of him though. 

".......Why?" Papa coughed out and Copia refrained from rolling his eyes. So much for trying to care. 

"Well... Why not?" he said, also refraining from sighing. He decided to remain there for a moment just in case the man wanted to say something else to him. As time passed by, it seemed highly unlikely that he was going to get anything more out of him, and he decided that it was probably a good time to leave. It was with a heavy heart that he walked out the door, heading back towards the ghouls' quarters. He wondered if anyone had informed them of the situtation. Probably not since he had just found out about it himself.... He supposed that he should take it upon himself to tell them then. As he walked, his stomach growled and he was reminded of how hungry he was. He still hadnt eaten anything today... Perhaps he should tend to that first. Or..... He could maybe ask the ghouls to join him. Aside from it being boring to eat alone, he also didnt have much of an appatite right now, and having some company might change that. 

He didnt really hurry to get back to them and he dragged his feet along as he ascended the stairs. He noticed that the door to the common room was still open, but he didnt see any of the ghouls around. With a sigh, he took the last step up the staircase and silently moved into the room. Rain didnt seem to be there at the moment, but Dewdrop was and he seemed to bolt up from his place on the couch when he spotted Copia coming through the door. 

"What happened?" he asked, eyes slightly widened. Copia knew that they must have both been concerned considering how he had left them in such a hurry, and together with a hysterical sister at that. He didnt answer him right away, but solemnly moved towards him, coming to a stop at about two meters from him. 

"Uh....", he hesitated about telling him. "...We should probably gather the others first", he decided and was met with silence. "Are they here?" he continued, thinking that perhaps they were all in their respective rooms. It was evening after all, so they shouldnt be up to any work at this time. 

"...Yeah...", the fire ghoul confirmed this and there was another moment of silence between them. "But are you ok?" he asked, his head tilting slightly as he watched the cardinal. There was obviously concern and affection in those sweet eyes, and it was something that Copia was still getting used to. It was a side of him that he actually really liked. 

"I'm fine..", he replied, hoping that Dewdrop would be satisfied with that simple answer. He then turned to move back towards the doorway to start his search for the other ghouls. 

"Will you help me look?" he asked him, noticing that he was already following him. 

"Of course", he replied, sounding so nice and compliant that Copia could have almost mistaken him for being Aether. He curiously wondered why he seemed to have softened up so suddenly. Not that it was a bad thing. It was just... different. 

The two of them decided that splitting up would make their search more effective, and Copia headed over to the left side of the floor while Dewdrop covered the right side. He didnt know which room was which. The only thing he knew was that the fire ghoul's room was on the right side... He noticed that the said man had started to occupy his mind more and more lately, and... that was fine, he guessed. This wasnt the time to ponder on things like that though. He instead focused on gathering the rest of the ghouls, taking them back to the common room to drop the bomb on them. 

Once they were all in there, he sat on the couch and watched as Aether got seated in the same chair as before. It seemed to be his favorite one. Earth, Wind and Rain remained standing, leaning against the bar, and Dewdrop, of course, sat next to him on the couch. Now, where should he begin? As he thought about it, he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his legs, and his hands folded underneath his chin to support it. 

"I dont suppose you have heard about Papa...?" he asked them, his gaze darting between the five of them. They all just looked confused. As expected. Since none of them seemed to want to ask him about it, he continued. 

"Well...I just got news that he's very ill...", he explained, pausing here to see their reactions. They were obviously shocked by this information and they exchanged glances with each other in silence. Copia was just about to continue when Aether suddenly spoke up. 

"Ill how...? Is he dying?" he asked, looking so concerned. Now Copia straightened up again and sighed.

"They dont know...They're treating him as we speak...", he said and was met with more silence. It seemed that no one really knew what to say to that. His stomach suddenly growled loudly and he felt a hand land on his on his thigh. He didnt care much at the moment. He was feeling rather downhearted right now. And hungry as hell. No one spoke for a while and he supposed that they were all just melting the information. Since he was slightly ahead of them on that front, his thoughts traveled away to another matter. He hadnt expected Papa to fall ill or to possibly die anytime soon. Would that leave everything to him? Or would Sister Imperator be the one to step up to the job? He would definitely need to talk to her once she came back here. That would hopefully be soon. 

Now Copia was feeling a bit anxious, and that also made him restless. He really needed to occupy his mind with something else for a while, and so he stood, looking around at the ghouls.

"Is anyone going to eat?" he asked, waiting for a moment before deciding to head to the door. He sort of expected Dewdrop to follow him, as he normally did, but as he threw a glance over his shoulder in the doorway, he noticed that that wasnt the case this time. The ghoul had approached Aether, who was also standing now. It made him stop temporarily out of curiousity and he watched as the fire ghoul was whispering something to the other. He decided not to wait for them as he was so damn hungry at this point, and he headed out into the hallway. As he walked, he thought about his earlier encounter with Dewdrop and Rain. He did want to pick up where they had left off, but right now, he wasnt in the mood for it. His body sure was, but not his mind. 

A few minutes later, he walked into the kitchen to find that it was filled up of sisters and other people who worked at the ministry. Apparently, he had come just in time for dinner. As his mind was pretty scattered at the moment, he decided on eating someplace calmer. There was just too much noise and movement in this room. The woman that was currently up by the stove politely curtsied to him as he neared her.

"Good evening, Cardinal", she greeted him with a smile and he nodded to her, stopping to try and figure out what kind of food had been cooked for tonight. 

"Hi", he replied and threw a glance over his shoulder to see that there were still no ghouls in sight. He supposed that he would have to eat his meal in solitude then. 

"Care for some dinner?" the woman asked him nicely and he turned back to face her. 

"..Yes..", he replied absentmindedly. "Please." He was thinking about Papa again and he felt bad for not being there to look after him. He should definitely pay him a visit when he was done eating. As soon as he had gotten his bowl of stew, he thanked the lady and left the kitchen to head into the nearby common room. It was currently empty of people, which was more than fine with him. He spent alot of time just stirring his food around rather than eating it as he lacked an appatite at this moment. He wondered why Dewdrop wasnt there with him. Not that he needed him. Not for anything else than sex... At least that's what he told himself. As more minutes passed, he grew more and more tired of sitting there alone and so he started to force himself to eat up. The sooner he did that, the sooner he could visit Papa. 

To his surprise though, he now spotted a ghoul up by the door. As he studied him more carefully, he noticed that it was Rain. The man silently walked into the room to take a seat by his table and was soon followed by Aether, Dewdrop and even Wind. None of them seemed to have anything to say, but Copia didnt mind. He was content with just having them there. As they ate in silence, he found himself stealing a glance at Dewdrop every now and then. He was pretty cute... He had to admit that. He also noticed how differently they were eating. They were practically throwing their food into their mouths as if they hadnt been eating for days. They were just scooping it in and licking their bowls, seriously lacking manners. Wolves was a word that popped into his mind again. Hungry wolves... A part of him thought it pretty charming and amusing, but as a well mannered gentleman himself, he also found it odd. He had definitely been raised better than that. Perhaps ghouls werent really being raised at all... 

When he had nicely finished his bowl, he pushed away from the table to stand, thinking that it was time for him to visit Papa again. For all he knew, he could pass away at any minute. Before leaving the table, he grabbed his bowl, but hardly got the chance to announce his departure before Dewdrop spoke up, adorably licking his mouth. 

"Where are you going?" he asked and Aether was also looking up at Copia now. 

"I need to see Papa", he explained as simply as that before he got moving again, away from the table. Dewdrop seemed to want to tag along as he too pushed away from the table while the others stayed. Copia wasnt sure if they were afraid to go or if they just werent interested. That was fine though. It wasnt their responsibility. It wasnt Dewdrop's either, but he suspected that he was just coming along to be able to spend time with him. They both left their dishes in the kitchen and were then on their way to the medical wing. As they walked through the hallways together, Copia played with the thought of having sex with the ghoul again. He knew that this wasnt a good time for that and he still wasnt fully in the mood for it due to the circumstances. It just seemed that he was getting more and more horny as the time passed and he suspected that it could have something to do with the ghouls teasing him earlier and awakening that lust in him. 

He smiled to himself as he watched Dewdrop discreetely. What if he would just...do...a little thing... Without really giving himself the time to think it through, he brought a hand up to gently slap the man's butt. This caused the ghoul to tense up and to slow down to a stop. Copia was just smirking at him when he turned to stare at him. When a few seconds had passed, it was starting to make him feel nervous and he wondered what was going through the man's head at the moment.

Dewdrop stepped closer suddenly, forcing Copia back a little and he eventually found himself back into the wall. His heart was pounding fast in his chest now, matching the throbbing down in his pants. The ghoul didnt say anything but just breathed heavily close to his face, his hands coming up to grab his waist. As much as Copia enjoyed that, he was well aware of where they were and he didnt want anyone to walk in on them like this. 

"We need to see Papa", he reminded Dewdrop, looking him straight in the eye as he waited for him to let him go. A moment passed where nothing happened and where the ghoul just kept staring at him. 

"Are you sure you dont want to do that later?" he asked eventually, squeezing his waist a little. It became obvious to Copia that he had accidentally riled the ghoul up with that innocent little touch. He hadnt expected it to make him like this and he was starting to think that it might have been a bad idea. He didnt want to lead him on when he didnt have the intentions of sleeping with him tonight. 

"I'm sure...", he replied, standing his ground. As Dewdrop didnt make any move to step back, Copia gently grabbed his arms to remove his hands from him, and the ghoul let him, finally backing off. Then they were once again on their way to the medical wing. 

It looked almost abandoned when they arrived a couple of minutes later. No one in sight, and Papa seemed to have been moved. Copia took the lead into the oblong room, looking around for any signs of life in there.

"Hello?" he heard Dewdrop calling out behind him, and that's when he finally spotted Papa further down the room. He hurried to his side and as he neared him, he noticed that his wounds had been covered up, and had probably been cleaned also. He stood there staring for a moment, noticing that he was as pale as before. As well as as lifeless as before. He sensed Dewdrop coming up next to him and they stood there in silence for what felt like minutes. This just wasnt right. He was so anxious to talk to Sister Imperator about it, but she wasnt in town, so there was nothing he could do. He was sure she was getting back as soon as was possible for her though. In his mind, he went through the last few days, and even weeks, trying to think of something that might have caused this. From what he knew, they had done everything right to please their lord. Could someone have invited something else into their realm then? Something that meant them harm? If that was the case, then they would have a serious problem on their hands. 

He almost jumped when the sudden sound of a soft voice popped his bubble and he turned to see a sister standing there. 

"Oh...hi..", he blurted out, unsure of what she had just said as he had been so deep in thoughts. 

"Hi", she replied and came over to the bed to look at the sick man lying there. Then her gaze found Copia again.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked and adjusted the blankets that were covering Papa. He was sort of afraid to ask, but...He wanted to know if the condition had worsened or not. At least he didnt seem to be dead... Right? 

"We're just checking in to see...how he's doing..", he replied, cleared his throat and watched as the sister walked off to a wall of cupboards.

"He is stable right now, but... We still dont know how to cure him", she said and opened one of the cupboards to retreive a few small bottles from the shelf. "He isnt very responsive and he's gotten a few more wounds", she continued and turned to them again, being faced with a far more concerned Cardinal now. It seemed that she had been about to do some more talking, but she kept quiet instead, seeing how it might just upset him more. 

"..I see..", Copia replied and inhaled, a bit more deeply than normally, to then let the air out as a sigh. "I take it you will inform me if anything changes?" he asked then and the sister nodded.

"Of course, sir", she replied ensuringly, watching him and waiting for him to say something else. 

"Let's go", Dewdrop insisted suddenly, pulling a little bit at Copia's sleeve. He of course felt bad about leaving again, but he knew that the ghoul was right. They couldnt just sit around staring at Papa. That wouldnt make anything better for anyone involved. He eventually nodded silently and thanked the woman. Then they were on their way again and he was feeling even worse now than before. 

No words were exchanged between them as they walked, and he didnt know where Dewdrop was heading. Probably wherever he was heading... He just knew that he was going back to his private chambers to rest for a bit. The closer they got to them, the more obvious it became that the ghoul had planned on going with him. Surprise, surprise. He was having much on his mind right now though and was not in the mood for any company.

"Listen...", he started as they walked up to the door and he slowly opened it. "I've got some things to do", he let him know. Mostly thinking actually, but still. When he stepped through the doorway and turned to face Dewdrop, he could clearly see that that wasnt what the ghoul had wanted to hear. He was obviously disappointed. 

"I can be quiet", he insisted, tilting his head and looking cute. Copia just shook his head, actually feeling a little bad about rejecting him, but he really needed some time for himself.

"I need to do this alone", he explained, hating how sad that ghoul looked right now. He hadnt expected it to be this hard to dismiss him... Dewdrop's head straightened up again and he watched Copia in silence with longing in his gaze. 

"Can I at least have a kiss?" he asked, putting Copia in a problematic situation. It was becoming clear to him that Dewdrop wanted something more than just sex, while he himself wasnt so sure of what he wanted. Fucking sexy boys was so simple and fun. Satisfying... But anything beyond that meant that he would have to deal with emotions. He knew that he enjoyed the ghoul's company and that he sort of wanted to be closer to him, but..... he was just ...afraid maybe? Sighing, he placed his hand on the doorknob, getting ready to close the door.

"Sure", he granted the ghoul's wish, seeing how the sadness was now draining from his face to be replaced with a more content expression. He remained still, allowing Dewdrop to come to him, closing his eyes as he waited for the kiss. When the man's lips pressed against his, it was with passion and affection and Copia felt his heart flutter with joy for a moment. The kiss lasted for a couple of seconds before the ghoul broke away, seemingly in a much better mood then before. He even flashed him a grin before he walked off. After having closed the door behind him, Copia felt relief, but also...loneliness. He told himself that it was fine though. It wasnt like he needed other people around him at all times. 

As he moved further into the room, he noticed that a few rats had gathered on top of a tiny table in the corner. It made him smile and he walked up to them to retreive a bag from the cupboard nearby. 

"Are you hungry, my loves?" he asked them, still smiling as he poured its contents into the bowl on the table. It was a mixture of different seeds and nuts, as well as dried fruit. The little animals started feasting on it immediately, eating away. Just the sight of it made Copia feel way better and it was with an overall improved mood that he got to work on writing some things down. He knew that tomorrow was their weekly ritual mass, and if neither Papa nor Sister Imperator would be able to attend, he supposed that it would be up to him to take care of it. That would be pretty neat actually. He knew what he was supposed to do since he had been attending for years, and he had of course been trained by Papa to eventually take over his role. Well...that might happen sooner than later. 

When he considered himself done for the evening, he looked at his watch and noted that it was only nine pm. That was way too early to go to bed. Still, he didnt feel up to socializing, or doing much at all really. Hmm...He supposed that he could spend the rest of his night reading then. One couldnt get enough of that. Eventually though, time came for him to sleep and he wasnt so keen on that. While he got into bed, he suspected that it would prove rather hard to do so due to his concerns for Papa Nihil. This was a time where he could really need someone by his side... but he was too damn stubborn about it... Rolling over on his side, he was faced with the bedside table where a pile of rats were sound asleep on the foot of his nightlight lamp. He watched them for a while, feeling a bit calmer and less alone, but they were still no humans... Or ghouls for that matter. As with many other uncomfortable thoughts, he pushed these away to the back of his mind and attempted to sleep. Fortunately for him, it didnt take long before he drifted off into the world of dreams. 

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Some time later, he woke up again and he realized that his nightlight was turned on. Strange... He specifically remembered turning it off before falling asleep. A stinging sensation in his hands suddenly snapped him out of his drowsy state and he looked down in shock to see big cuts and burns covering his arms and hands. The pain was intensifying by the second and he could feel his whole body burning all over. In panic, he threw himself out of bed and rushed out into his office room, slamming the light switch on the wall. His breath got stuck in his throat as he got a closer look at his arms. Blood was pouring out of the wounds and each and every one of them seemed to be growing bigger. For a moment, the room seemed to spin around him, making him dizzy and making him all the more panicked. Without even trying to think, he ran to the door and threw it open in hopes of finding help. 

Right as he was about to rush into the hallway, he bolted up into a sitting position on his bed, staring wildely into the pitch darkness of his bedroom. He could hear rats scattering about and he instantly reached out to turn the night lamp on to then look down at his....perfectly fine arms.... He examined them in bewilderment while at the same time trying to catch his breath. So it had all just been a dream...? He swallowed and flopped back down onto the bed, feeling slightly shaken. He tried to calm his breathing and his raging heart, telling himself over and over that it had just been a dream. It wasnt real. It was nothing that could harm him. Unless...Papa's fate would befall them all, of course. Now that was a real possibility right there. 

For a while, he just laid there, wide awake and unable to relax fully. This was when Dewdrop popped into his mind and he wondered if perhaps he would feel calmer in his prescence.... No.... He shouldnt think like that. He was an adult. A grown man. He didnt need anyone's comfort.... He tried to push away the image in his mind of the ghoul holding him. Damnit.... With a sigh, he reached out towards the bedside table again to snatch his book from it. Maybe some reading could calm him down and get his mind off the ghoul and that damned nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heey. Sorry for not updating for so long. I've struggled with a bad depression for a while

The next morning eventually came and Copia woke up well rested. His thoughts, of course, went straight to Papa as memories of yesterday came back to him. He sure hoped he was ok. Since no one had come to him with news of any sort though, he supposed that his condition was unchanged. He really needed to stop worrying so much and give himself a break... Also, he needed coffee... With that decided, he got out of bed and got dressed, wondering if sister Imperator was back home or not. They usually practised their rituals in the noon and if he was going to be responsible for today's mass, he needed to do some preparations. 

This morning, he left his door slightly open in case any rats would want to slip outside and explore. Then he headed for the kitchen, thinking that he should also get himself some breakfast while he was there. The thought of it made him subconsciously speed up a little, still feeling hungry from yesterday. He was pretty sure that his appatite was back today, and that would certainly make eating a whole lot easier. Aside from the thoughts of Papa and work, Dewdrop also popped into his mind. As it was starting to become a regular thing now, he didnt care to try and push it away anymore. He had accepted the fact that it was going to happen to him on a daily basis. Was that so bad though..? He shook his head as he entered the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee and a couple of apples to bring with him out of there. Today also seemed to be a nice, sunny day, he noted as he walked up to a nearby window. A couple of gardeners were out there, taking care of the yard in the morning mist. It was a pretty calming sight. 

As he watched the two working, he slowly brought his cup to his lips to take a sip of his coffee. When he was done, he turned his head in curiousity to see who was coming down the hallway towards him. To his surprise though, there was no one there... Strange... He was certain he had seen someone moving in the corner of his eye. Very strange indeed. Maybe he was just really tired. He didnt feel especially tired though. He shrugged it off anyway and started heading back towards his quarters.   
When he neared them, he could hear the faint sound of a phone ringing. Could it be his? He hurried his steps now, almost panting when he reached the door and rushed inside. It was definitely coming from in there. Quickly, he put his cup down on his desk, less than carefully, making the coffee spill out a bit. He didnt have the time to tend to that now though, so he just cursed under his breath as he teared the mouthpiece from the stationary phone. 

"Hello", he said hurriedly while trying not to drop his apples on the floor. 

"Cardinal?" came a very familiar voice from the other end and he relaxed a bit, relieved to finally get in touch with sister Imperator. 

"Your exellency", he replied respectfully. "I'm so glad to hear from you", he added and at the same time tried to look for some paper to wipe the coffee off his desk. Any paper would do.

"Of course", the woman replied as a matter of factly before she continued. "Is Papa all better?" she asked then, making Copia tense up a bit and delaying his answer for a moment. He hated delivering bad news, but what choice did he have?

"....No..... He is not... Unfortunately", was all that he could muster to reveal. Unless she would ask him more about it, of course. Thinking this a good opportunity to steer the conversation in another direction, he decided to ask about today's ritual. "Uh... He wont be able to attend the mass today", he informed her before she could say anything else, and while he waited for her to reply, he pulled out a drawer from his desk to see if there was any paper in there. 

"I see", sister Imperator said and made a pause before continuing. "I wont be able to make it back until later today, so it will be all up to you to hold the fort, Cardinal", she made clear to him, and it didnt surprise him as he had already suspected that the responsibility would fall on him today. Ah. Papers. He grabbed one from the second drawer and carefully tried to soak the coffee up with it. 

"Yes, I know", he replied. "I will take care of everything", he promised and wondered to himself what Dewdrop would think about it. It almost made him smirk. The thought of him sitting there watching him, looking up to him.... Well, one could dream. 

"I expect nothing less from you", sister Imperator replied, snapping Copia out of his daydreaming. "I will be checking in with you when I get back, alright?" she sounded as if she was in a bit of a hurry suddenly, so Copia made sure to be quick to reply this time. 

"Of course, your exellency", he replied, almost as hurriedly as her, before they hung up. He supposed that he'd better get on with his breakfast right away then, because he had alot of things to prepare. As he sat and enjoyed his coffee, he was beginning to wonder what he should wear. Probably red. That would go well with the blood that they would be sacrificing later. He smirked a little, thinking himself pretty clever for that. 

Only minutes later, he was getting dressed as well as going through his other daily routines. As he was showering and enjoying the warm water running down his body, he yet again thought of his nightly encounter with Dewdrop. That ghoul was really something. He wished for those hands to touch him again.... That tongue... He realized that he had closed his eyes, and also that... there was a little something going on down between his legs now. Sighing, he ignored it and started cleaning himself up. Hopefully, there would be time for some fun with the boys later. 

When he considered himself ready to leave his quarters, he grabbed his red coat to match the rest of his outfit and then headed out into the hallway. He was feeling pretty excited about today's mass. Was it because he would get to be in that position of power for a moment? Or because he wanted to impress Dewdrop..? Could maybe be a bit of both. 

When he arrived to the chapel, the ritual would be due in half an hour and he immediately started preparing the hall for all the guests to come. He couldnt deny that he was enjoying himself pretty much. He could certainly see himself doing this in the future. It was a shame that he hadnt been promoted yet. He believed that having those iconic robes on him would have invoked a bit more respect in his audience....but oh well. It was an honor to even get to be in charge of the mass, so he really shouldnt complain. 

As the time was ticking closer to 10:30, people were slowly starting to arrive and taking a seat. He supposed that the whole ministry must have been informed of Papa's mishap by now, so hopefully they werent surprised to see him missing today. More time passed and as he waited for the hall to fill up, he discreetely watched the newly arrived ghouls from his place by the altar. He was especially interested in seeing the fire ghoul's reaction to his role here today. At first, they didnt seem to notice him but seemed to be looking for somewhere to sit. As he waited, he nodded formally to the two sisters that had come to assist him with the goblets, and to hand him the sacrifical bowl to place at the altar. The next time he turned to the audience, he noted that he had most of their attention, including the ghouls' now. He so wanted to smirk at Dewdrop, but he wouldnt, of course. Not here. Not now. Instead, he stepped up to the pulpit and waited for everyone to quiet down.   
The two sisters had positioned theirselves at Copia's sides with one goblet each in their hands, just awaiting his orders. He sure felt pretty powerful and respectful up there. 

"Dear brothers and sisters", he began, silencing any chatter that might still be going on among the crowd. "We have gathered here today to show our appreciation for our lord, Lucifer", he made a pause then, thinking that he should probably address the situation concerning Papa. Just in case not everyone had been informed yet. 

"As you might have noticed, Papa Nihil is not here with us today....", another pause was made. "As he has suddenly fallen very ill, I have been asked to step in for him this day", he explained and let his gaze travel over the crowd, letting everyone melt this information before continuing. Or rather, before turning to the sister on his right side. 

"You may proceed", he told them both, and as everyone already knew the procedure, there really was no need for anything else to be said. Calmly, he watched as the two women bowed to him and walked off the stage and into the crowd to collect a sample of everyone's blood. It was through a simple cut in the palm of their hands that they would contribute to their joined sacrifice. Copia would of course do his part as well, but he would wait until the sisters came back. He would, by the rules, be the last one to put his blood in the goblet. As he waited, he tapped his fingers patiently on the pulpit, stealing glances at Dewdrop and the other ghouls every now and then. He also wondered to himself what the fire ghoul's blood would taste like... Not that he wanted to taste it. That would be weird. Somehow though, he could see the ghoul being into something like that. Immediately, he pushed those thoughts away and shook his head. This wasnt something he should be daydreaming about at a time like this. 

He waited several more minutes, watching in boredom as each and every member of the clergy got their blood taken. He had also stopped glancing at Dewdrop as the ghoul was now staring intensely at him, making things a bit awkward. Now that the two sisters were eventually returning to the stage, he would finally get to occupy his mind with something else. To focus on the matter at hand, which was to take the small knife from the altar, to place the tip of it against his palm. He did this turned to his audience, dramatically running the blade over his skin in a careful, slow manner. It was of course difficult to keep a straight face during this act, but fortunately, it was over in mere seconds, and just in time for the sisters to come over and collect his blood. He let just a few drops land in one of the goblets before pulling back to put the knife down. He then recieved the two containers from the women and proceeded with turning to the altar to pour their contents into the single bowl on there. The blood was then stirred around for a bit to make sure that it was all mixed thoroughly before he scooped it back up into the goblets to give them back to the two sisters. As they once again walked off towards the audience, Copia turned to face them. 

"Thank you all for your sacrifice", he started, theatrically holding his arms out to complement his words. He then watched for a moment as the sisters moved between the clergy members to let each and everyone of them have a sip of the blood. "The lord will be very pleased", he promised and turned to the altar to grab a tissue to wipe the blood off his wound. A third goblet had been placed by the bowl earlier, so he grabbed it and scooped up what was left of the contents in the bowl. Once again, he turned to the crowd, raising the goblet in his hand as to make a toast. 

"To our lord Lucifer!" he called out, waiting for the audience's jubilations before lowering it again. "Cheers", he added before bringing it to his lips to finally take a small sip of blood. There was never alot to go around, but there was always enough for everyone to have a taste. When he was done, he put the goblet back down on the altar and dipped the tip of his finger into the blood at the bottom of the bowl. There was an inverted cross inscription on the altar, which needed to be filled in with new blood during every ritual, every week, and so he proceeded with doing just that. Just as all Papas had done before him. He felt pretty proud and accomplished with his contribution, and he hoped that Papa Nihil would one day allow him to take his place. He knew that he wasnt related to his family, and that it seemed to be a problem for the old man, but someone would need to take over at some point...

As his work here was done, all that was left for him was to remain there to see the crowd off once they were all finished. As he waited patiently for everyone to have their sip of blood, he tried not to pay any attention to the ghouls. He wasnt there to peep at Dewdrop, or anyone else for that matter. He couldnt help but to think of that night that they had shared though.... It made him eager to get this over with and to maybe be so naughty as to go and find the ghoul once they were done here. 

With that thought in mind, the rest of the ritual seemed so protracted. The two sisters seemed to be moving extremely slowly among the last few clergy members and the mass just never seemed to come to an end. While he waited, Copia decided to throw his bloody tissue in the dustbin in the corner. He knew that it wasnt his job to take care of the aftermath of the ritual, but he didnt feel comfortable with just leaving it at the altar. That was sort of lazy and rude in his opinion. 

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the mass was finally wrapped up and he did his last task of bidding everyone farewell. All in all, he considered today's ritual a success. He believed that he had done a good job at taking everyone through it. Hopefully, the next time he did it, it would be as the new Papa. Surely he deserved it after all those years of standing by Nihil' side, serving him and his sons. He would wait until everyone had left before he bade farewell to the two sisters and left the chapel joyfully, beaming with pride as he walked along the building with the ministry in his sights. Such a nice day. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Perhaps he should treat himself to some whiskey. He knew it was noon, but he was the one in charge here today, so he might as well do as he pleased. 

Right then, he was rudely snapped out of his dreamy bubble when a hand grabbed his coat from behind and yanked him back around the corner, almost making him lose his footing. When he had recovered from the shock, he realized that the culprit was, of course, Dewdrop. Because who else?

"Is that how you treat your superior?" he asked him, clearly annoyed with the lack of respect for him and his position. The ghoul just smiled at him, unapologetic as always. This made Copia shake his head in disappointment, but there was still a hint of a smirk on his lips. 

"I thought you would treat me with some respect after today", he remarked, referring to the ritual that he had just guided everyone through. As he awaited Dewdrop's reply, he watched him with lust growing inside him, and also a slightly growing smirk. The ghoul's whole demeanor changed then, to a more seductive one and he moved a tiny bit closer to Copia. 

"You looked sexy up there", he hummed, ignoring the remark and let his tongue come out to run over his pointy fang, momentarily enthralling the Cardinal. As always though, Copia eventually snapped out of it and realized that their location wasnt a good place for chit chat of that sort. 

"Come", he said all of a sudden, his voice back to its ordinary tone as he started walking back towards the ministry building. Dewdrop tagged along, of course. He was probably just as eager as Copia himself was. His heart was beating faster in his chest now, but not from discomfort this time, but from excitement. He longed to touch the ghoul... To feel his naked body against his... and much, much more. He just assumed that horny Dewdrop had the same thing in mind. Therefor, he steered his determined steps towards his private quarters, not feeling a need to talk as there seemed to be a mutual understanding between them. 

It wasnt until they arrived to their destination and slowed down by the door that Dewdrop revealed that he had other plans in mind. 

"Let's go to my room", he insisted suggestively and picked up his pace again. He seemed to be expecting Copia to just come along. As the said man was a pretty compliant person, especially when it came to sex, he allowed the ghoul to take him to his bedroom instead. He wasnt especially picky when it came to locations for having said fun anyway. As he followed Dewdrop, he was reminded of his slightly offensive actions during the 'introduction' of his bed the other day. He couldnt help but to smile at this memory. it didnt bother him anymore. It was actually making him rather excited instead. As they walked, he took the opportunity to let his gaze travel down the ghoul's body. Down his back and down to his butt. It remained there for a while, studying the smooth movements. It wasnt until they reached the stairs that he took his gaze off him to simply follow him down the hallway and to their destination room. The ghoul didnt enter it himself though, but just showed Copia inside. 

"Wait here", was all that was said before he was on his way again, back down the hallway. He hardly gave Copia a chance to even raise a questioning eyebrow at him before he was gone. This annoyed the Cardinal a bit. He didnt really like Dewdrop's surprises. They usually put him in an uncomfortable situation, and he prefered being in control, so he wished that the ghoul would just be straight with him. As he had now been left alone in the said man's room, he might as well take the opportunity to look around a bit. He hadnt had much of a chance to do so on his previous visits. He noted that the bed was well made, which amused him a little. This tidy side of the ghoul was a stark contrast to his devious ways, for sure. Next to the pillow was a stuffed animal representing a fox and his gaze traveled further, to the windowsill, where a number of different cactuses had been neatly arranged. Again, he found himself smiling and immediately stopped doing so. He reminded himself that he wasnt there to admire Dewdrop's cute decoration choices, or to develope any feelings for him, but to simply have sex with the ghoul. That was all. Nothing more... 

Now, where could he have disappeared to? Out to catch the water ghoul again? So that they could pick up where they had left off last night? He smirked to himself and decided to start unbuttoning his coat, thinking that he should surprise the two by being undressed and ready upon their return. As he turned towards the bed and slowly made his way towards it, he could hear faint footsteps approaching the room. With that smirk still on his face, he spun around to face the doorway, his fingers still working on the last two buttons on his coat. When the owner of the footsteps appeared though, the colors drained from his face and his fingers stilled. In the doorway was neither Dewdrop, nor Rain...... but Aether...   
He quickly regained his cool though and smiled at him, acting as though nothing was out of the ordinary. He was just simply taking his coat off. Because he was a bit warm. That was all there was to it. Nothing strange about it. 

"Aeth", he greeted him cheerfully, still trying his best not to seem awkward. As he casually adjusted his coat, he wondered if the man had perhaps come to look for Dewdrop. The ghoul just raised his hand in a greeting manner in return, but nothing was said. Eventually, he entered the room. Now Copia was starting to wonder if he was in the wrong room altogether.... Could the fire ghoul had taken him to the wrong one... ? After having taken a look around the room though, he noted that that was not the case. This was the right room. He remembered enough of it from his previous visits. Aether still said nothing though, and he had just been about to ask his reason for being there when Dewdrop suddenly appeared in the doorway. 

"I couldnt find Rain", he announced, seemingly unbothered by Aether's presence. The taller ghoul nodded in return, as if the two had been talking about the man earlier..... As if Aether was....involved...... Or...something.... Realization suddenly hit Copia like a bolt of lightning and he slapped a hand over his eyes, laughing out loud. This, of course, surprised the two ghouls, who were now staring at him in confusion. Copia just kept chuckling for a while before eventually shaking his head as his hand slipped from his face. 

"I should have known", he sighed as Dewdrop closed the door. "He's in on it too, isnt he?" he pointed to Aether now, looking between the two, but got no answer from the fire ghoul. Only a sly grin. Copia couldnt believe this. Was Dewdrop trying to get him laid with every single ghoul in this clergy? Geez....

"...Only if you want me to", came Aether's sweet voice suddenly and Copia turned his attention to him instead. It was nice to see that at least someone cared to ask him, he thought sarcastically to himself. A snort of a laughter escaped him then and he once again shook his head, giving Dewdrop a meaning look. 

"..Sure..", he agreed, glancing at Aether shortly. The three of them remained in their respective spots for a few more seconds before the taller ghoul carefully stepped forward to approach Copia. 

"Are you sure?" he asked him sweetly as he stopped before him to gently grab his hand between his two. This caught Copia off guard slightly. Aether sure was a sweet boy, huh? A caring gentleman.... Unlike Dewdrop over there. His soft gaze remained on Aether for a moment and he refrained from smiling at his cute gesture. He didnt know that this gentle, respectful ghoul was into stuff like this, or even into him. But maybe it had just been Dewdrop convincing him to come here. 

"I'm sure", he promised him, showing off a brief smirk and noted that the fire ghoul was now moving closer to them. He also noted that Aether was bringing his hand up to softly kiss it. It made it hard for him not to smile now. This man was apparently full of sweet surprises. He could certainly get used to this kind of courting. Other things soon came to mind though when Dewdrop's arms wrapped around him from behind. They were not quite as gentle as Rain's had been the other day. Especially not the hand that came up to grab a hold of his throat. It wasnt at all a hard grip, but more of a display of dominance. It was a bit of an unexpected turn of events, but he eventually allowed himself to relax and to close his eyes, almost shuddering from the lustful sensations that coursed throughout his body when a hard bulge pressed against his bum. While enjoying the touch of Aether's hands unbuttoning his shirt, he opened his eyes again to reach out and grab a hold of the button on the ghoul's pants. He managed to twist them open and proceeded with eagerly cupping the man's hard on through his underwear. Aether's eyes closed in response to this, letting Copia squeeze and caress his crotch. He seemed to be enjoying himself quite alot... Not for long though as he soon opened his eyes again to loosen the last two buttons on Copia's shirt. Next, two big hands slipped inside if, grabbing a hold of the Cardinal's sides before they slowly slid down his waist and over his hips. This drove Copia insane and he struggled not to moan or lean into the touch. His eyes squeezed shut again and his hand on the ghoul's crotch stilled. Aether's warm hands moved back up his sides now, making him shudder from pure pleasure. 

When he felt Dewdrop's arm moving from around his hips to grab his crotch, he squeezed Aether's in return. His hand stilled thereafter though when he suddenly felt a wet tongue on his chest. His eyes instantly shot open again, but he couldnt fully see the ghoul in front of him due to the hand holding his neck back in a locked position. His breathing became heavier and heavier from lust now that the tongue was running over his nipple and he aggressively started to pull at Aether's underwear to free the hard lenght underneath them. It was a bit of a struggle considering that his sight was limited, but he was determined to get what he wanted. When he finally got a hold of it, he recieved a soft moan from the ghoul and his hands started to work on unbuttoning his pants in return. While enjoying the ocassional licking and kissing on his chest, Copia explored the warm cock in his hand, stroking and caressing it. He noted that it felt pretty big, and he was torn between feeling excited and feeling nervous about it... Those thoughts didnt distract him for long though as Aether's hands were now almost tearing his pants off. As soon as his underwear had been pulled down, Dewdrop's hand returned to his crotch to grab a hold of his erection. 

He didnt get time to enjoy it for long though as a sudden hand on the inside of his thigh made him tense up. He soon relaxed again though, enjoying the gentle caressing. It progressively moved further and further up his leg now, grazing lightly against his bum. The way Aether was moving so carefully and slowly made him wonder if he wanted to prepare him for what was to come, or if he was simply teasing him. Copia wasnt stupid. He knew what the ghoul was going for and he supposed that he would let him. He had been rather opposed to the idea of being fingered during his first encounter with Dewdrop, but this time.... he would try to be more compliant. He had after all enjoyed the fire ghoul's treatment of him and was maybe taking a liking to it...

When he felt gentle fingers moving over his bum, he closed his eyes, tensing up a little bit more in anticipation. His cock twitched eagerly once when one of them forced its way inbetween his buttcheeks. It soon found his entrance and unexpectantly pushed inside, all at once. This forced a gasp out of him and he held his breath for a moment, struggling not to blush. As the finger was rubbing him so gently, he tried telling himself that it was nothing to get embarrassed about. His body didnt seem to want to agree with him though and he could feel the heat in his cheeks intensifying. It took him a while to calm down, but when he did, he hardened his grip on Aether's pulsating cock and he could feel his own throbbing in Dewdrop's hand. As he enjoyed the finger that moved so smoothly inside him, he couldnt help but to let a smirk spread his lips wide. 

"Aeth...", he chuckled softly. "I didnt know you were such a dirty boy...", he trailed off, his voice very sensual and seductive. He got no answer in return, but he could hear Dewdrop quietly starting to purr behind him and felt his hips pushing against his bum once. The ghoul seemed to have become a bit impatient... A minute or so passed in silence before the finger was suddenly withdrawn from Copia's throbbing insides and he decided to open his eyes again. When his gaze met with Aether's, he smirked at the ghoul and was surprised to suddenly be released from Dewdrop's grip. Nothing was said still, but Aether simply grabbed his hand gently to pull him with him towards the bed, which he allowed. Carefully, he stepped out of his pants that were still wrapped around his ankles and followed the ghoul. 

Once they reached the side of the bed, Aether had him face it before placing a hand on his back to gently guide him down onto it. Then he was made to lay on his belly while the ghoul climbed up behind him. The hand was still on his back, pressing him down into the mattress as its owner made himself comfortable. It was making it slightly hard for Copia to breathe and his heart was starting to beat faster in his chest. Then he felt Aether's warm, rock hard cock against his buttcheek and tensed up a little. Without exchanging any words, Dewdrop came up on the other side of the bed to hand a small bottle of something to his friend. Then the hand was finally withdrawn and Copia took the opportunity to take a few deep breaths. His gaze also found the fire ghoul, and he wondered what naughty things he had in mind for him... Dewdrop didnt give him as much as a smirk even, but just slowly paced back and forth along the bed, hungry eyes set on him. Behind him, Aether seemed to have slipped off the bed again and he could no longer feel him near him.

Now waiting in anticipation and with a pounding heart, Copia listened for any indications of what might come next. He suspected that Aether would probably either finger him some more, or penetrate him. The thought of both of those scenarios made his own cock throb eagerly and he started to long for putting it inside one of the ghouls. Both of them seemed very keen on being on top though... 

His thinking quickly came to an end now that two hands suddenly grabbed his hips to pull him closer to the edge of the bed. He could feel Aether's warm thighs gently brushing against his, and a warm, hard dick pressing against his buttcrack. It was sticky and slippery, covered in the lubricant that Dewdrop had given to him. When the tip pushed inbetween his buttcheeks, Copia closed his eyes and tried not to tense up too much. He was both excited and a little bit nervous about it as he waited for the tip to break through his butthole. Once it did, he couldnt help but to gasp. Aether's cock was clearly thicker than Dewdrop's. On the other hand, the bigger ghoul was more gentle than his friend had been. As more of the cock pushed inside him, he tried not to let any more sounds escape him, which was rather hard as he felt like he was being stretched further than what was comfortable for him. At the same time, it was both pleasurable and exciting. In the midst of it all, he could hear Aether softly groaning in satisfaction behind him. This, of course, excited him further and he relaxed a little bit now, allowing the cock to slip inside more easily. 

When all of the lenght was eventually inside him, Aether stilled for a moment and Copia opened his eyes again, smirking to himself. 

"You're a big boy, arent you?" he hummed sensually and chuckled, feeling the ghoul's cock twitch a couple of times. He got no answer this time either. Perhaps he was embarrassing him with his dirty talk... Instead, he turned his attention to Dewdrop who was currently busy with pulling his pants down. Without any further ado, Aether started to gently pull out again, just as carefully as before. This teased Copia's sensitive insides and he allowed himself to moan softly, squeezing around the cock in an attempt to keep it from slipping out fully. The ghoul's hands squeezed his hips a little in return before they moved down to caress his thighs. This excited Copia even more and he eagerly arched his bum up against his cock in a way of begging for more. His insides were a little bit sore from the other day, but at this point, he didnt really care. He was way too horny. 

When Aether once again pushed inside him, he moaned, squeezing the hard lenght again with his throbbing muscles. He could feel the tip of his own dick getting moist from precum and he once again started to long for shoving it up someone's ass. The pleasure that Aether was giving him now though was also very enjoyable. Especially the way his thick cock rubbed against his prostate so efficiently. Now he was starting to hear some cute purring coming from Aether and one of the ghoul's hands found its way inside his coat and up his back. The gentle touch made Copia shudder from pleasure and he once again arched his bum up in an attempt to push himself onto his cock. Taking this as a sign of permission to go faster, Aether picked up his speed and his hands came back up to grab the hips before him. Again, Copia closed his eyes and moaned in pure bliss, loving the way the ghoul pleasured him. The combination of the cock rubbing his insides, together with his own being rubbed inbetween himself and the bed made for a wonderful sensation. 

Right when he was enjoying himself the most though, he felt a gentle hand brushing against his cheek and looked up to see Dewdrop standing there before him. The ghoul smiled down at him before he moved his hand to his chin instead, tilting it upwards a bit. Copia had a pretty good idea of what the ghoul might be up to, but he didnt let it show in any way. He just watched in silence as Dewdrop grabbed his cock with his free hand, moving a tiny bit closer. 

"Will you be a good Cardinal and let me have some fun too?" the ghoul wondered, his voice husky and lustful with a wicked grin to go with it. Copia's gaze dropped momentarily to the cock in the man's hand before looking up at him again. He hoped that Dewdrop would return the favor in some way later... Or he would make him. Although...He wasnt so sure that he wanted those sharp fangs anywhere near his sensitive genitals. A sudden, sharp thrust from Aether made him gasp and tense up again, biting his bottom lip to prevent a moan from escaping him. Right then, he also felt the warm tip of Dewdrop's cock against his lips and opened his eyes again. He was so horny by now that he could probably go along with anything at this point and so he decided on granting the fire ghoul's wish. 

He gently brushed his lips against the tip of the cock, feeling it and tasting it a bit before letting his tongue come out to run over it. He didnt get to explore it much though before Dewdrop impatiently pushed part of it into his mouth. He allowed him to, but he tried to not let it get too far inside. Behind him, Aether was starting to speed up some more, moaning every now and then. The intense rubbing made Copia moan too and he was starting to get pretty stimulated at this point. Not only from Aether's amazing cock, or his own cock being rubbed, but from the lustful hands that roamed over his body. The sexy sounds that the ghoul was making was also pushing him closer to a release. 

Then all of a sudden, Dewdrop's hand came up to unexpectedly grab a hold of the hair on the back of Copia's head, yanking it back a little. This in turn made the Cardinal grunt in discomfort, glaring at what he could see of the ghoul. 

"Dew!" Aether scolded him, stilling for a moment, "Be careful", he warned him, obviously not liking his friend's rough ways. Copia could only imagine Aether glaring at Dewdrop, as everything was completely still and quiet. 

"I am..", the fire ghoul sighed, actually losening his grip a little. A few moments passed before Aether finally started to move again, and Dewdrop also carried on with working his cock in and out of Copia's mouth. He relaxed again and let the two have their way with him. His cock was getting so painfully stimulated now that he was afraid he might cum. He didnt want to do that yet. He was having a growing urge to do it inside of someone. Also, the great thing with boys was that you wouldnt risk getting anyone pregnant... His trail of thougths were interrupted then by the sudden sound of the door opening and his whole body tensed up in fear. The two ghouls also stopped their movements to look in the direction of the door. 

Copia thought he might suffer a smaller heart attack, until Rain suddenly appeared in the doorway. Thank Lucifer... He sure didnt want to get caught like this by someone who was not involed in their games. The ghoul didnt at all look surprised to see them like that, but he did look a tiny bit disapppointed as he closed the door behind him. 

"Why didnt you wait for me?" he complained, obviously hurt that they had started without him. 

"We couldnt find you", Dewdrop admitted simply. He didnt seem very remorseful about it. Rain just snorted a little as he approached the bed and the two other ghouls started moving again. 

"Sorry...", Aether apologized to the water ghoul before he started thrusting harder into Copia, seemingly determined to cum now. It was a struggle for the Cardinal to keep himself from doing the same. He was extremely stimulated and the rough intense thrusting wasnt helping. To get his mind off it, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think of something else. He could feel Rain climbing up onto the bed then and decided on focusing on that instead. Luckily for him though, Aether soon let out a row of beastly moans, followed by that familiar twitching and throbbing sensation inside of him. He could clearly tell that the man had reached his peak as there was also that uncomfortable stickiness of warm fluids running down thighs when the ghoul pulled out. 

All that was heard for a while was Aether's heavy breathing and the sounds of pants getting pulled up. Now that Copia had opened his eyes again, he decided to pull away from Dewdrop to sit and to wipe his mouth off. The fire ghoul just watched him calmly, yet hungrily before his eyes settled on Aether instead. The bigger ghoul seemed a bit unsure of where to go from there, but he eventually bowed respectfully to Copia, quietly thanking him. He almost seemed shy about the whole thing... To be honest, Copia didnt really know how to respond to it, and so he just watched in silence as the ghoul walked to the door to leave the room. He then turned his attention to Dewdrop, smirking at him before pointing to the bed, urging him to get up on it. The horny ghoul obeyed, of course, eagerly climbing up next to him, seemingly about to push him down onto the mattress. Copia was faster though, turning it around and pushing the ghoul down onto his back. For a moment, Dewdrop looked surprised and a bit confused. This was apparently not going according to his plan. He soon regained his senses though and pushed up from the bed to throw himself at Copia, overpowering him and pinning him down on his back. This was obviously not appreciated by the Cardinal, who returned the ghoul's smug smile with a glare. 

"I'm your superior", he warned him, his voice a low rumble. This didnt seem to motivate Dewdrop to move at all and he kept smirking down at him. 

"Not in my bed", he answered him with a silky, sensual tone of voice. They stayed like that for a moment, challenging each other silently until another voice suddenly butted in. 

"You can do me, if you want to", Rain offered himself quietly, drawing both men's gazes to him now. Neither of them said anything for a while, but after a few seconds, Copia broke away from Dewdrop to get up and move over to the water ghoul instead. To his surprise, the fire ghoul didnt stop him. He didnt care to look back to see his reaction, but let his gaze roam over Rain's body instead. The ghoul just obediently laid back onto the bed and started working on getting his pants off. In the meantime, Copia looked around for the lube that Aether had used before, but he didnt see it anywhere. That would be a problem.... He couldnt go in dry. Just as he was wondering if the ghoul had taken the bottle with him when he left, Dewdrop nudged his arm. 

"Looking for this?" he asked, both his voice and his face lacking emotion of any sort when Copia looked at him. He supposed that the ghoul was bitter, or disappointed, or maybe both. Without saying anything though, he took the small bottle from him, nodding to him before picking up where he had left off. First things first though. He removed his beloved gloves and put them aside before he unscrewed the lid on the bottle and let a few drops drip into the palm of his hand. When he lubed his sensitive cock up, he let his eyes close momentarily to fully enjoy the sensation. The amazing stimulation that the oily substance gave him made him suddenly very impatient to enter Rain, and he once again opened his eyes to see that the pants problem had now been taken care of. 

The water ghoul smiled at him and discreetely parted his legs, waiting patiently for him to make his move. Finally, it was time for some fun for Copia. How he had longed for this! Impatiently, he grabbed the man's hips to pull him closer and to position the tip of his cock at his butthole. When he carefully pushed inside, he noted that Rain tensed up a little. It was totally understandable though. He knew the feeling all too well. He didnt seem to be in pain though, so he continued. The passage that he pushed through was unexpectedly tight, but strangely satisfying and he kept working his way inside without being too careless. The soft moan that escaped Rain when his hips connected with his bum was like music to his ears and he felt his cock twitch in pleasure. Smirking at the ghoul now, Copia lowered himself down onto him to make himself more comfortable before he would start humping him. He took it slow at first, not wanting to cum immediately, but also not wanting to hurt him. 

The tight, warm flesh squeezing him every time he pulled out made him grunt from pleasure and the soft arms wrapping around him, together with the ghoul's sexy moans pushed him closer and closer to the edge. He wanted to make it last, but he was also becoming painfully stimulated. He didnt think that he could last even if he took it slow, so he quickly gave up and decided to pick up his pace. He was expecting himself to cum within mere seconds. That's when he suddenly felt two hands grabbing his butt and squeezing it. This in turn made him freeze and he was about to look over his shoulder to see what Dewdrop was up to when the tip of a slippery cock pushed inside him. This reminded him of how sore he was, but he still let him come inside. It was still sort of enjoyable...

"You naughty ghoul..", he groaned as the full lenght was roughly shoved inside him. Again, he started to hump Rain, more eagerly this time. He wanted a release and he wanted his poor butthole to be left alone. The combination of getting his cock rubbed, together with the hard cock caressing his throbbing insides was quickly pushing him towards the edge. Another moan escaped him when Dewdrop's rough hands squeezed his bum and caressed his thighs, making it impossible for him to hold back any more. As intense pleasure spread throughout his cock and his bum alike, he gasped, almost trembling from how powerful a sensation it was. He had never felt anything like it before. It was simply amazing. Overwhelming almost... Who knew that fucking boys could feel so good... When he was done, he remained on Rain, resting for a bit while Dewdrop was still humping away. 

It didnt take long for the ghoul to also reach his peak and Copia could feel the steady spurt of cum shooting up his butt. Then everything stilled for a while before the softening cock was pulled out of him. It allowed him to finally push away from Rain to sit again. The bed had become quite messy now, but he supposed that the was Dewdrop's problem, and not his. The said ghoul's arms yet again wrapped around him from behind, holding him affectionately to his chest and he could almost feel the intense heartbeat against his back. 

"You can leave", he heard the ghoul say suddenly and it took him a second to realize that it had been directed towards Rain. The sweet ghoul, who was calmly stroking himself, now looked at Dewdrop in surprise. Neither of them said anything to each other and the water ghoul eventually pushed himself off the bed, not looking so pleased with not getting to finish first. Copia couldnt help but to feel bad for him. He knew that Dewdrop wanted him to himself, but he didnt get why the poor guy had to be chased off because of it. 

"Rain...", he addressed him softly as the ghoul started to get put his pants back on, but he got no answer. There wasnt much he could do but to watch as he went for the door, adjusting his clothes slightly before opening it.

"It's fine", came the unexpected reply then and the ghoul slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Copia still felt bad for him. He should definitely make it up to him sometime. Ideas of what he could do to the ghoul started circling around in his brain, almost making him excited again. His bubble was only popped when Dewdrop started nuzzling his neck and kissing it affectionately. 

"You felt good", he purred softly as he let go of Copia, allowing him to face him. The Cardinal just gave him a small smile in return though and started looking for his gloves. 

"Same to you, my friend", he replied eventually, thinking it rude to ignore him. He was just a bit nervous. That's all. Fortunately, he quickly found his gloves, snatching them from the mattress right as Dewdrop pulled him closer again. Before he could react, the ghoul had leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips, trying to do so again when Copia turned his head away. 

"I.... have some work I need to do..", he excused himself awkwardly, feeling how his heartbeat was increasing slightly. He still didnt quite know why he felt anxious about being too close to Dewdrop. He just was... The ghoul wasnt stupid though. He wouldnt fall for such a lame excuse for not kissing. Copia knew it was stupid, but he had felt pushed into a corner so suddenly...

"I'm sorry..", he said eventually, not wanting to look Dewdrop in the eyes. He was already feeling guilty enough for rejecting him. He didnt need to also see the disappointment on his face. 

"...Whatever...", the suddenly cold tone in the ghoul's voice made Copia's heart sink, but he still decided on leaving. He really needed to face this anxiety and Dewdrop some day, but that day was not today. Silently, he pushed himself off the bed to collect his pants and in the corner of his eye, he could see Dewdrop flopping down on the bed and pulling the covers over his head. This made Copia feel even worse, but he bravely put his pants on and buttoned his coat so that he could get out of there. The ghoul really deserved to be treated better than this... He just didnt know how to approach the issue. It was something he would have to think about. Right now, he needed a shower, and his poor clothes needed some serious washing.


	7. chapter 7

When Copia returned to his private quarters, the first thing he did was to start removing his dirty clothes with the intention of taking a shower. Seeing his reflection in the bathroom mirror made him pause for a moment though. He was still thinking about his situation with Dewdrop and it definitely weighed heavily on his mind. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair once. This was the moment where he realized that he had probably developed feelings for the ghoul... Why was it making him so anxious though...? He decided not to give it any further thought, but to instead undress and get in the shower. He couldnt help but to notice that annoying soreness inbetween his buttcheeks again. It seemed to make itself known everytime he walked. Another thing that caught his attention once he got the water running was a slight stinging sensation on his arm. When he examined it, he discovered that the source of the pain was a small scratch.... Hmmm... His brow furrowed a little as he tried to recall a situation where he could have gotten hurt, but none came to mind and he soon dismissed it as being one of the rats' doings. 

He continued with his showering, taking his sweet time and enjoying the warmth of the water before eventually exiting the bathroom. He was still butt naked and in the process of drying his face off with a towel. When he removed it from his face, he froze as he thought he had seen a shadow moving in the corner of his eye. There was no one in sight though.... Feeling paranoid now, he decided to check the rest of his quarters for intruders. Every corner, every closet and even under the bed. Clearly, there was no one there.... Was he going crazy...? Sighing, he decided that that must be the case and started getting dressed to head to the kitchen as lunch would be served soon. 

Despite the constant burning in his butt, Copia was in a rather good mood today. As one should be after getting laid. The only thing that clouded his sunny day a little was Papa's condition and the issues between himself and Dewdrop. He really needed to go and see the old man after lunch. He felt rather guilty for not having checked in on him sooner. 

When he eventually reached the kitchen, he joyfully greeted the people in there before his gaze landed on the ghouls in the corner. Dewdrop had made some distance between himself and the others at the table and Copia felt a bit bad about it. He was probably still upset from earlier. He himself was actually a bit upset too. He didnt understand why Dewdrop couldnt just respect his wish to keep his distance. It wasnt like they were a couple. It wasnt like he owed him anything. Well.... maybe he did owe him a few words regarding the reasons for his rejecting tendencies.   
With mixed emotions, he went and got himself a bowl of soup before getting seated among the ghouls. Neither Rain nor Aether seemed awkward about seeing him again, which was good. They just smiled at him when their eyes met, and Dewdrop..... He didnt dare to look his way. Instead, he just focused on his lunch, eating in silence for a couple of minutes before he felt something against his shoulder. Apparently, Rain had decided to nuzzle it and was now leaning his head against it. It warmed Copia's heart and he smiled softly before he brought a spoonful of soup to his mouth. A low growling interrupted him though and he stopped to glance at Dewdrop further down the table. So did most of the other ghouls. The man's glaring eyes were fixed on Rain only though, apparently not approving of the ghoul's move. A second later, Copia felt the weight lift off his shoulder, but he decided not to pay any attention to either of the two men. He wasnt in the mood for this. It did remind him of how Rain had been chased off earlier and how he had considered making it up to him. Maybe he should ask him about it later... After all, he could do whatever he wanted, with whoever he wanted. 

As he kept eating, he noticed that he was getting a bit tired. Perhaps he had been anxious about today's mass without realizing it. He didnt think it should affect him like this though. Not in a way where he just wanted to close his eyes and lay down to rest. He figured that he might as well close them for a bit then and to also lean against the table with his arm propped up on it to support his head in the palm of his hand. Aaahh.... Satisfying. For a while, he just sat like that, listening to the buzzing sounds of voices around him. The more he rested, the more sleepy he got, but he was just too comfortable to open his eyes. He must have looked uncomfortable though, because Aether's sweet voice broke through to him after a while. 

"Are you alright, sir?" it asked softly, forcing Copia to open his eyes again. When he did, he had a hard time focusing on the ghoul. His gaze just didnt seem to want to settle. 

"Uh.....Uhmm...Yes", he murmured and straightened up again to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut in the process. He remained like that for a minute or so until he dared to open his eyes again. The dizziness seemed to have passed and so he decided on finishing the rest of his soup and get up to leave. When he stood however, his whole world started to spin and he stilled, closing his eyes and holding on to the table for support. Seconds passed before he pried one eye open, locking it with Aether's concerned gaze. He ignored him and any others who might be watching and opened his other eye, feeling stable enough to leave the table. His trembling hand reached out to grab his bowl and he turned from the table to take a few careful steps away from it. When he did, darkness started to cloud his vision and he quickly put the bowl down on the nearby table to grab a hold of a random chair as he was starting to lose his balance. His legs were getting weak underneath him and he heard a strangely distant voice calling his name before everything went black. 

After what felt like a mere second, he found himself staring at the ceiling in confusion. What was going on here...? Where was he? What was he even looking at? There was a slightly painful sensation on the back of his head now, and that's when he realized that his back was connected with the cold floor. His brain then registered loud and fearful voices, which all sounded just as distant as the previous one had. A familiar face suddenly came into his view and he blinked a couple of times, seeing the ghoul's lips moving, but couldnt hear a word. It was Rain, joined by Aether in the background. They both looked scared and a soft hand suddenly came in touch with his cheek, startling him at first. He realized that he had just fainted and was starting to feel both concerned and ashamed. Most of the people in the kitchen seemed to be staring down at him and he just wanted to escape their intrusive gazes. 

"Sir...?" he heard Rain's voice then, loud and clear all of a sudden. "Are you ok?" he didnt get the chance to answer him though as the ghoul was suddenly pulled back, and a confused Aether was pushed out of the way. In his view, Dewdrop now appeared and Copia propped himself up on his elbow. He was humiliated, angry and anxious, and now he was also mad at the fire ghoul for the way he had just treated his friends. 

"Dont", he grunted, holding his free hand out to prevent Dewdrop from coming any closer. "You dont own me", he growled, not caring who was listening. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment then and he heaved himself up into a sitting position. When he opened them again, he saw Dewdrop retreating and moving away from them. Before he could process it though, Rain and Aether had grabbed him to help him up from the floor. 

"Th....Thanks...", he mumbled, leaning against Aether for support. He was so thankful for these two, sweet ghouls...

"Let's get you to the medical wing", Aether decided then, but Copia just shook his head no. He didnt need any medical attention. He just wanted to get back to his place and to rest in peace. Away from everyone and everything. 

"It's fine...", he ensured him, carefully pushing away from him to try and stand on his own. "I'm just going to....rest some..", he trailed off and started moving towards the doors. The two ghouls followed him, probably afraid that he was going to faint again. Once out in the hallway, he tried to convince them that he was fine on his own, but they both insisted on accompanying him all the way back to his quarters. 

Once inside, he decided to lay down for a bit. Thoughts of the situation in the kitchen was now haunting him and not giving him much of a chance to relax. Eventually, he grew tired of laying there and against his better judgement, he pushed himself off the bed to move into his office room. He felt alot better actually, and he was pretty sure he wouldnt faint again. He didnt even feel dizzy anymore. He was used to visiting the ghouls for company and entertainment lately, but that wasnt an option today. He didnt want to bump into Dewdrop. Instead, he decided on visiting Papa in the medical wing, to see how he was doing. 

When he arrived there, the place was dimly lit and a couple of sisters were in the process of unpacking a box on the floor. They both stopped what they were doing when they noticed his presence. 

"Hello...", he greeted them quietly, also raising his hand a tiny bit as they were just staring at him. One of them seemed to snap out of it soon though, and she straightened up to smile at him.

"Cardinal..... Welcome", she greeted him back, but she seemed slightly.... nervous? There was a moment of silence between them before Copia realized that he should reveal his intentions for visiting. First, he cleared his throat.

"How is.... Papa doing..?" he asked her, noticing that she seemed to become even more uncomfortable from this question. She also threw a glance back towards the beds down the corridor before answering him. 

"...He.... is not responsive anymore...", she spoke quietly, avoiding eye contact. "He seems to have lost consciousness... ", this surprised Copia and he swallowed, feeling as though his hope for Papa to recover was slowly fading away. How did this happen? He was beginning to feel really frustrated and angry from not knowing anything. Why did this terrible misfortune have to befall them? 

"...What about the tests?" he asked, throwing glances down the corridor every now and then. The sister just shook her head. 

"They couldnt find anything wrong with him...", she replied and was met with shock in response.

".........What..?" Copia just stared at her, eyes widened. Was she being serious? There were so many things wrong with Papa! How could they not find anything?! "What do we do now..?" he wanted to know, feeling his heart dropping as he suspected that there wasnt anything they could do. 

"I dont know, sir...", the sister's saddened voice answered him and she watched as he rubbed his temples in frustration. "I'm sorry...." Copia didnt blame anyone. This was apparently a disease that was beyond their medical knowledge. 

"Are there any other doctors we can call?" he asked her, awakening a tiny bit of hope in there in the darkness of his heart. 

"We're looking into it", she replied with a heavy sigh, looking quite guilty about not being able to give him any good news. Copia just nodded in response to it and stayed silent for a few seconds. He didnt really know what to do or to say at the moment. His thoughts went to the ghouls, but he decided that he didnt want to see them right now. He was just in an overall bad mood, and also a bit ashamed still.... He figured that he could always take care of some paper work to get his mind off uncomfortable things. With this decided, he thanked the sister for her time and was on his way again. 

The day went on and he and Dewdrop didnt speak to each other at all. Not even during the practising of rituals did they communicate. They just simply did their parts and then split up to mind their own businesses. To be honest, Copia did find it quite hurtful, but he wouldnt let his feelings get the better of him. For now, he would let things be the way they were....

As darkness was slowly falling outside, it became more and more obvious to him that Sister Imperator would not be coming home this evening. Unless she was just late and would arrive sometime during night time. He wasnt so sure though. Something just felt off about everything lately. He sure hoped that nothing had happened to her... If she wasnt back in the morning, he would have to look into the matter. As he was strolling about in his quarters, worrying and thinking about what he should do, he spotted two rats scurrying around in his office room. Stepping inside, he noticed that a few more had gathered and three of them seemed to be sleeping in a cute little heap on the rug. This made him smile and he decided to sit with them for a while. There were few things that made him as calm as being with animals. Watching them play and running around reminded him that he hadnt taught all of them tricks yet. That was definitely something that he could spend the rest of his night doing. 

Most of the rats immediately took notice of him pulling a bag from the small table, their ears perking up in curiousity. They knew that there were treats in there. Naturally, they all gathered around him when he put it in his lap and opened it up to pull out some dried fruit pieces. He dropped some of them on the rug for them to take before he focused on a certain little white rat under the table.

"Andras", he called for it to come over, and it soon did as he had trained them all to know their own names. "Good girl", he praised her as she jumped up on his leg. He tried to lure her into the palm of his hand by tempting her with a piece of fruit. It worked like a charm and the little animal was awarded with said treat. Next, he let it move back down onto his leg and he lifted his hand a short distance above it before urging the rat to jump up onto it, with the promise of another treat of course. It easily leaped up into his palm to claim the fruit, putting a smile on his face. He kept doing this for a while, as well as playing with the rats before he decided to call it a night. As most nights lately, Dewdrop came to mind, making him feel a storm of emotions. Mostly guilt and some longing. As with most other uncomfortable thoughts, these too, were pushed them to the back of his mind. 

Two days passed and he and Dewdrop were still not talking. That was the least of his problems though. Sister Imperator had still not come home. According to the people in charge of the conference she had attended, she had left in the morning two days prior to their call. The police had of course been contacted, but they hadnt heard anything from them either. Copia, as well as the rest of the church, was beyond worried. He was the only one left in charge here and he felt an immense pressure on him to set things right. He didnt know how though... He had considered taking Papa's car to go out and look for her himself, but he constantly reminded himself that it was probably not a good idea. She was traveling here from two towns over, so the chance of finding her on his own was small. She could be anywhere for all he knew. At least there was some positivity today. He had been feeling less tired and less dizzy since the previous evening. There had been no more faintings, and for that, he was very thankful. 

He was currently pacing back and forth in his office, thinking and worrying. He knew it was bad for him and that he needed something to distract his overworked brain with. Should he go and see what the ghouls were up to...? The thought of it made him nervous as he might run into Dewdrop up there. Considering how anxious he felt about isolating himself in his quarters though, it might be worth the risk.... He quickly decided that it was, and steered his steps towards the door. 

Once he had reached the stairs leading up to the second floor, he slowed down, almost sneaking up the steps, looking around for anyone who might be Dewdrop. There seemed to be no one in sight though. Once at the top, he carefully approached the common room, his heart beating hard in his chest now. As he peeked inside, he could see the two ghoulettes in there, chatting. No Dewdrop in sight.... Phew.... Now straightening up with confidence, he stepped inside with a smile on his lips.

"Good morning, ladies", he nodded to them as they turned their heads to look his way. 

"Good morning, Cardinal", they replied in unison and watched as he walked further into the room. Copia's attention was focused on the billiard table now and he wondered if any of the girls would be interested in playing. 

"How is Papa Nihil doing?" Cirrus asked him carefully, now drawing Copia's gaze back to her. He hadnt checked on him this morning, but the last couple of days, there had been no changes to his condition. He was fairly sure that he could tell her that it was still the same, without risking it being untrue. 

"Not better, I'm afraid", he replied as he moved slowly to the billiard table to pick up the cue ball. "He is still unresponsive", the ball was then put at its rightful place on the table. Then he glanced at the two ghoulettes shortly to see them exchanging worried looks. He now started to gather the rest of the balls to put them in the triangle, and was just about to ask the girls if they wanted join him, when someone came into the room. In relief, he noted that it was just Rain and he released a breath he didnt know he had been holding. The nervousness in his features faded and were replaced by a small smile. He nodded to the ghoul.

"Care to play?" he asked, trying not to sound as flirtatious as he felt. He didnt have any feelings for Rain, but they did have sex and he wouldnt mind doing it again... This thought steered him towards another ghoul.... A special ghoul.... who tended to occupy his mind.... There was something within him that made him want to restrain himself when it came to any other ghouls and to just go for this certain ghoul, but.... Those were just feelings. Feelings that he could dismiss. 

"Sure", Rain's voice snapped him out of his deep thinking and he looked away from his smiling face to remove the triangle from the table. Next, he turned his attention to the ghoulettes to offer them to play too. 

Would you ladies like to join us?" he asked them and grabbed a pool stick to hand it to Rain before picking one for himself. Cumulus excitedly clapped her hands and came over almost instantly.

"Yes, sir", she exclaimed, sounding just as excited as she looked, and it put a smile on Copia's face. 

"Wonderful", he replied and decided on giving his stick to her instead. Cirrus seemed less interested than her friend, but she decided to join anyway. 

"Why not", she said, shrugging and picking up a stick that happened to be leaning against the far end of the table. 

"Eight ball?" Rain asked Copia and received a nod from him.

"Why dont you start, Cumulus?" he asked the ghoulette, since she had seemed so excited about playing. In the meantime, he picked a new stick for himself. 

"Can I?" she asked, looking as if she could hardly contain her joy. 

"Of course", Copia replied calmly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Rain's presence made him feel a tiny bit horny and he wondered if he should ask him to sleep with him when they were done here. The thought of it made him smile absentmindedly and he watched as Cumulus hit the cue ball with her stick, spreading the rest of them across the table. His gaze followed the various balls and one of them fell into the basket at his corner of the table. A cheer from said ghoulette followed and she moved around the table, contemplating her next move. Again, Copia's mind drifted off to other things and his gaze became slightly unfocused. Again, he was worrying about taking care of everything in Papa's and Sister Imperator's place. He supposed that he would just do the most important and obvious things. He didnt want to do too much of their work in their absence. 

Now he was pulled back to reality when Cirrus suddenly hit the cue ball, rather hard at that, and watched as it rolled into another ball. None of them ended up in a basket though. 

"This is why I dont like this game", she complained. "I never win." with that said, she received a comforting pat on her arm from Cumulus. Copia said nothing, but focused on figuring out his first move. There were two different options for him to choose from and he easily decided on one. To position himself at the right angle, he would need to move Rain out of the way. It was something he would gladly do as touching the ghoul, despite it being innocent, would maybe satisfy his horny brain for a while. If only for a moment. Gently, he placed a hand on the man's hip to carefully push him a few inches to the side. 

With a serious expression on his face, he leaned over the table, carefully placing his hand on it to support the tip of his stick. When this was done, he concentrated hard on positioning it in the right angle. His brow furrowed and he held his breath in an attempt to keep completely still. You could tell that he was taking his games rather seriously. With a slow movement, he pulled the stick back an inch or two, getting ready to strike the ball. The sound of a door opening further into the room didnt really bother him, but yet, he raised his gaze to settle it on Dewdrop right as he struck the ball. He immediately realized that he had missed the ball, merely nudging it and making it roll slowly along the table. A ton of emotions coursed through him at this moment and he watched, frozen in place as the ghoul walked through the room, seemingly heading for the hallway. Dewdrop just held his gaze for two seconds before focusing his eyes ahead of him. Copia however, kept staring for a few more seconds, having lost all sense of time and space. Eventually though, he had to tear his gaze from him and to pull himself up straight again. He started to feel really embarrassed about his failure and facepalmed for a moment before letting his hand run down his face and to finally drop to his side. 

"It was a good try", Rain consoled him caringly, only making Copia feel worse about it. The game went on though, and despite having screwed up at the start, he ended up winning in the end. No matter how many times it happened, he felt just as smug about it. He loved to win and he seldom lost because of it. When it came to games, he tended to practise alot. The four of them decided to have a drink to finish off with and that suited Copia just fine. He could need a little something to calm his nerves before going back to try and take care of things. It didnt seem like there was anything on Papa's schedule today, and since he hadnt been able to talk to him for days, he hadnt gotten any new duties either. There was of course his usual paperwork.... He rotated the whiskey glass in his hand on the bar counter, staring at it absentmindedly. The more anxious he got, the more his mind steered him in the direction of sex. Maybe that would have a calming effect on him... Rain was seated close to him on the stool next to him and he was very aware of each and every movement that the ghoul made. Whenever he imagined them in bed together though, a bad feeling washed over him. Was it guilt...? He wasnt sure, but it felt bad. 

Deciding on dismissing his thoughts yet again, he brought the glass to his lips to take a few sips of his whiskey. The burning sensation in his throat was sort of numbing the uncomfortable feeling in his chest and he kept drinking, for as long as the whiskey would let him without becoming too painful. He only stopped when Rain spoke up. 

"Did you see that?" the ghoul asked as Copia put his glass back down. He met his eyes for a second before looking towards the door leading to the hallway. He studied it for a couple of seconds before looking back at Rain again. 

"...See what..?" he asked, confused. The ghoul wasnt returning his gaze. It was fixed on the doorway.

"It looked like a shadow of a person", he explained, making Copia freeze for a moment. A shadow figure...? Like the one he had seen in his quarters? He wasnt sure if he should be relieved about not going crazy, or concerned about the shadow being a real being. Maybe both him and Rain were going crazy..... Inhaling deeply, he downed the rest of his whiskey and slipped off his stool to investigate. In the background, he heard Rain getting off his stool, probably to follow him. He didnt think it was a good idea though as they didnt know what they were dealing with, and so he stopped and turned to face him. 

"Stay here", he ordered him, making sure that the ghoul seemed to stop before continuing out into the hallway. It was dimly lit, making it hard to discern any shadows. His heartbeat increased a little as he looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Typical.... Why did they tend to disappear as soon as you looked at them?

"What do you want?" he called out, furrowing his brow. He felt pretty silly for standing there alone, seemingly talking to no one. He retreated a couple of steps, taking one last look around and.....froze. Something was moving among the shadows further down the hallway. It moved out into the light and jumped to the stairs. This startled Copia and he gasped, watching in horror as the shadow ran down the steps. He quickly followed and noticed the sound of footsteps running behind him. Damn ghoul..... He didnt have the time to stop and tell him off though, but kept his eyes fixed on the moving shadow. It made a few turns here and there, leading them down various hallways before it finally ran into the library. 

When Copia came to a halt in the doorway, the shadow was nowhere to be seen.... Where had it gone...? Rain came up behind him seconds later and they both remained there, panting and staring into the library. Eventually, Copia dared to step inside. The silence around them was deafening and he could almost hear his heart pounding in his ears. 

"Damn...", he cursed under his breath, turning to face Rain when there was suddenly dark shadows filling the corners of the room. They also started to slither into the corners of his eyes, naturally making him panic. He could hardly see anything anymore and the last thing that caught his eye before everything went black was a terrified Rain backing into the wall. He felt dizzy from fear now and his breath seemed to get stuck in his lungs somehow, making it hard to breathe. He didnt faint though... which was unexpected. 

"Rain?!" he called out in panic as he struggled to move forward in the darkness. He felt strangely weak and a sharp pain made itself known on the back of his neck suddenly. Soon, his whole body started to hurt all over. He felt as though his skin was being teared and burned. At least his vision was starting to come back to him now, and the room cleared up suddenly.... For a while, he didnt dare to move. He was just frozen in fear, his gaze on the petrified ghoul by the wall. When he finally managed to move, he brought a trembling hand up to touch his neck. It stung terribly and the sight of blood on his glove shocked him. He could hardly breathe from how panicked he was. The burning on his hands made itself known again and he desperately tried to grab a hold of the tip of his glove to pull it off. When he did, he did it carefully and slowly, afraid of what might be revealed. 

What he saw made his eyes widen and a gasp escaped him. This couldnt be happening..... The other glove was pulled off as well and he just stared at his wounded hands in terror. deep scratches were covering most of his skin, bleeding furiously. This had to be a dream.... It just had to be...... Maybe............if he ran into the hallway, like in his previous dream, he would wake up...? Stumbling a little, he made his way pass Rain and out of the room on unsteady legs, trying hard to keep his balance. In the background, he could hear the ghoul yelling something at him, but his voice sounded so awfully dull and muffled, as if they were far apart.... He kept going forward, eventually regaining his balance enough to run. Again, Rain was calling out for him, but he didnt care. He just ran. He didnt want to die! He was too young! Please be a dream! Please be a dream! Please be a dream!

What was he going to do now? He couldnt think straight. He could hardly think at all. Everything around him looked blurry and distorted. He was scared out of his mind as he kept running back down the hallways. It was then that Dewdrop managed to pop into his mind and he realized that he desperately needed to see the ghoul. It wasnt until he reached the stairs to the second floor that he felt his legs getting weak underneath him, forcing him to stop. As he leaned against the railing, slightly bent over and panting heavily, he noticed Rain's voice in the background. It sounded clearer now. 

"Sir...", there was an obvious concern in the ghoul's voice and a hand landed on his back suddenly, startling him. He didnt answer. "You need to go to the medical wing", the voice told him, but he just shook his head, making the world spin. They couldnt help him. What had they done for Papa? Nothing! He was doomed. Doomed to die, for sure. There was only one thing that he cared about right now.... and nothing was going to stand in his way. 

"No...", he groaned in response and started to climb the stairs. Everything hurt so bad. Even speaking hurt. 

"But sir..", sweet Rain insisted, yet not trying to stop him. Damnit all. Copia's teeth clenched together and he struggled to reach the top of the stairs. 

"They cant help me!" he growled, huffing as he managed to conquer the last step. He then continued his struggle, staggering down the hallway with a certain door in his sights. He just needed to reach it.... Just a few more steps... Just a tiny bit further.... He was startled when he once again felt a hand on him. This time however, it came to support him, and not to stop him. Thank Lucifer.... He didnt think he could put up with a fight right now....

Still panting, he stopped outside of Dewdrop's door and banged on it a couple of times. He realized that he was too anxious to stand around and wait though, so he proceeded with just throwing the door open. In there by his desk, Dewdrop was currently tipping his chair and was almost falling off due to the shocking entrance. Copia just staggered inside, stopping after a few steps to hold his arms out, palms up to silently show the ghoul his wounds. There was terror in his eyes as he bored his intense gaze into the other man's, apparently expecting him to understand. 

As Dewdrop had now regained his balance, he got off the chair, looking alarmed. Without any words, he moved over to Copia, staring down at his hands with widening eyes. His gaze then shortly met with his and then moved to Rain in the doorway, his eyes showing confusion and distress. He grabbed Copia's hands to turn them over and back again, horrified by the familiar wounds that covered his lover's skin. Again, he looked up at him, the terror in his gaze matching with his. A second later, Dewdrop bowed his head and started shaking it furiously. It was disheartening for Copia to see and he struggled to keep his tears back. He swallowed, frozen in position. It was all so unreal.... He could feel Dewdrop's hands trembling in his own cold ones. His whole body felt cold. As if life was slowly draining from him. 

The ghoul suddenly made a move forward as if he was about to embrace him, but stopped himself and stepped back again, eyes full of sorrow. Copia suspected that the man had for once restrained himself from giving him a hug, and it clearly hurt him. This time however, Copia did want him to. He was scared out of his mind, terrified of dying. He just needed comfort, and Dewdrop was the only one who could give him that. Trembling a little, he pulled his hands out of his grip and moved in to embrace him. The instant he did, he felt arms wrapping around him in return, holding him tightly. It did hurt to have his wounds squeezed, but at the moment, he didnt care. His heart was now beating painfally fast in his chest, almost threatening to break out of it. His hands clutched the fabric on the back of Dewdrop's shirt and he inhaled a deep, shuddery breath. Was this how things were going to end for him? Was he really going to die...? Was he never going to get to hold the ghoul like this ever again..? Swallowing, he burried his face in the side of the man's neck, inhaling his sweet scent. He could feel him starting to tremble in his arms and he struggled to hold back tears, feeling them burning behind his closed eyelids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuuun


	8. Chapter 8

The two remained in their embrace for what felt like minutes. Strangely enough, Copia's heart was slowly starting to calm down and his fingers loosened a little around the fabric they had been clutching. He was still in shock though. All he could think about was that he might die soon. Too soon. It made him want to scream in anguish. A sudden movement startled him and he realized that Dewdrop was pulling back a little. Just enough to be able to look him in the eye. The ghoul's eyes were glazed, as if he was about to cry any second now.

"We need to get you to the medical wing", he decided with an unsteady voice, but didnt wait for Copia to respond before he grabbed his wrist and started pulling him with him towards the door. Copia helplessly staggered along, trying to find the strenght to stop the ghoul.

"...There's nothing they can do..", he panted, almost tripping over the threshold as they walked pass Rain and into the hallway. "Dew..", he whimpered. His head was starting to spin terribly. He didnt think he could manage to take any more steps without having his legs give out underneath him. "Dew!" he wheezed again, making an effort to pull back and actually made the ghoul stop this time. Confused eyes met his distressed ones and he attempted to explain why they had stopped, but instead, he just staggered, stumbling into Dewdrop who gently caught him. Fortunately, the ghoul seemed to have realized what a bad shape he was in and didnt force him to walk again. He just steadied him for now. Nothing was said between them for a few moments and Copia used this time to catch his breath and to try and make the world stop spinning. He could sense Rain carefully nearing them in the background, but the ghoul didnt say anything either. 

Again, Copia was startled when Dewdrop suddenly crouched down to scope him up in his arms. Then he was off again in a careful sprint. He couldnt say that he appreciated the man's gesture, but he wasnt in any condition to refuse it. He was quite surprised by his strenght, considering how skinny he was. Perhaps it was just a ghoul thing... Perhaps they tended to be stronger than humans... His brain didnt allow him to ponder over it any longer though. It was becoming extremely difficult to think at all. He blinked tiredly, realizing that his head was resting against Dewdrop's neck all of a sudden. He couldnt remember leaning into him... Had he just blacked out for a moment? Damn... He was terrified of going to the medical wing. What if Papa was dead...? Then that would mean that the same fate would be awaiting him...? The thought of it made him feel so sick to his stomach and he started to try and think of ways to escape, but he couldnt seem to get his brain to cooperate with him enough. His limbs werent much of a help either. They were working against him just as much as his brain was. 

The bumpy journey to the medical wing had felt like a mere thirty seconds to him, but he knew that couldnt be accurate. When he was lowered down onto his feet again in the doorway, he felt as though his legs were too brittle to hold the weight of the rest of his body. Still, he managed to remain standing while Dewdrop ran into the ward, calling for help. Copia's vision was a bit blurry at this point and he had a hard time focusing on anything. He wondered if Papa was laying on any bed nearby, or if maybe he was...dead. Soon enough, Dewdrop's desperate shouts had caught the attention of a couple of sisters and two blurry figures appeared further down the ward. It made Copia pretty uneasy when they approached him as they sort of reminded him of the shadow person that had attacked him. He didnt attempt to resist their tries at supporting him though, but let them walk him towards the aisle of hospital beds. He didnt think that he would be able to even if he tried. Never in his life had he felt such loss of control over his own body. His limbs just seemed to get weaker and heavier by the second.

As they neared a bed further down the corridor, he could hear a third sister telling Dewdrop that he needed to leave. It took Copia a while to register what this meant and then it was quickly followed by panic. He heard the ghoul protesting and then the sister raising her voice at him. Dewdrop couldnt leave him. Not now when he was dying! Not when he needed him the most. He couldnt do this on his own! The sisters were still bringing him further from his beloved ghoul and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Eventually though, he remembered that he had a voice. 

"Wait...", he mumbled, trying to force more words out through clenched teeth, but none wanted to come. The two women seemed to ignore him and to be more focused on getting him up on the bed than to listen to him. He groaned in pain as his sore back came in contact with the soft bedding, and in the distance, he could hear the door closing. This just antagonized him further and he was starting to really panic. Somewhere in his foggy mind, he thought he could hear one of the sister's soothing voice telling him something, but he couldnt hear what it was. 

The next time that he was aware and awake, he found himself waking up from what felt like a long sleep. At least he got the impression that he had been out for a while. As soon as he opened his eyes to focus them on the ceiling, everything was coming back to him. He was still in that nightmare... That living nightmare. At least the pain wasnt as bad as it had been, but it was still there. He blinked tiredly a couple of times, feeling panic slowly creeping up on him again. The ward was pretty dark, but thanks to a small lamp on a nearby counter, he could make out his surroundings pretty well. Must be night time then.... Something else also caught his attention. Something heavy on his left arm and shoulder. At first, he was afraid that he might be losing his arm due to hardly being able to feel it anymore. 

When he turned his head, with much effort to try and take a look at it, he was shocked by what he saw. A....body.... was laying next to him... and a sharp horn was poking him in the neck suddenly. He just kept staring at the dark form in confoundment for a while. Dewdrop...? How did he get in here...? Did they let him back in after all? No..he didnt think so... For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he could feel his heart warming up and spreading a sort of calmness throughout his body. Even though he knew that he might die, it didnt feel quite as bad with this lovely ghoul by his side. He made a few attempts to speak before he eventually managed to get a pathetic excuse for a word out.

"Dew..?" his voice sounded as if he hadnt been speaking for weeks, but it didnt matter because the ghoul didnt seem to hear him anyway. He was probably in a deep sleep. Oh well.... Copia didnt think he would be able to stay awake for much longer anyway. He didnt even want to. He just wanted to escape this painful nightmare...

The next time he opened his eyes, it seemed to be daytime again... No lamps were turned on, but there was light coming in through the windows. He blinked a few times and let his gaze wander. He noticed that Dewdrop wasnt there anymore and it made his heart sting for a moment, until he spotted someone familiar further down the hallway. Sister Imperator! Thank Lucifer she was alright. Feeling a bit more alert now, he decided on trying to get her attention. She seemed to be busy talking to one of the sisters that had taken care of him.

"Si...", his voice got stuck in his throat and he tried to clear it before attempting to speak again. It seemed he had lost his voice a little bit, because whenever he tried to talk, it came out very hoarse and quiet. He obviously needed to change tactics. If he could maybe...sit... He was feeling weak, but he still pushed himself up on trembling arms. At least the pain wasnt so bad anymore. He supposed that they must have given him something for it. What was this..? He looked down at his body. A hospital gown..? He felt so awkward all of a sudden. So they must have changed his clothes then... He tried not to feel too embarrassed about it. It wasnt that hard actually, considering that he remembered that he had more pressing problems at hand. Him sitting up had probably caught the sister's attention, because she stopped talking and looked his way suddenly, causing Sister Imperator to turn as well. They were apparently surprised to see him awake and moving. 

"Cardinal", there was obvious confoundment in Sistser Imperator's voice and she stared at him for a moment before coming over. Copia didnt reply but just groaned as he shifted his position a little. He was gathering the strenght to try and speak again. 

"What have you been up to while I was gone?" she sounded a bit more stern now, obviously wanting answers to what had caused him to be in this state. Answers that Copia couldnt give her. A deep breath was inhaled before he made a face and tried to reply to her. 

"I....", he fell silent here, clearing his throat again. "Nothing...out of the ordinary..", he ensured her, dropping his gaze from her stern one, feeling quite guilty when she talked to him like that. 

"Well, you must have done something", she insisted, obviously frustrated. Copia didnt know what to say to that, because he could hardly think and he didnt know what was going on at all. He supposed that her irritated demeanour might come from concern regarding Papa, so he could sort of understand her anger. Thinking of that made him remember what a serious condition that the old man had been in the last time he saw him and it made his heart sting with fear suddenly. 

"Is...Papa.....?" he swallowed, looking up at Sister Imperator again. It didnt seem like hinting would get him anywhere as the woman just stared at him expectantly, so he continued. "Is he...alive..?" he asked, terrified of what the answer would be. Her expression was just as neutral as before, so he hoped that it meant that nothing tragic had happened while he was out of it. 

"Barely", she replied. "This is not a disease", she continued suddenly, making the gears in Copia's head trying to turn again. What..? 

"It's not?" he asked, confused and made a face as the pain was beginning to make itself known again. He was also feeling dizzy and overall weird now. Maybe he should lay back down... 

"It's a curse", Sister Imperator said with a grave tone of voice as Copia sank back down on the bed. A curse? His eyes widened for a moment. So that meant that they could break it. Hopefully. He just kept staring at her as he melted this new information. 

"You or that old goat must have done something to piss someone off", she continued, making Copia feel bad again. He couldnt remember doing anything differently from how he usually did things. Maybe it had been Papa's fault then.... "Fortunately for you, I happen to know someone who might be able to help you", she added and crossed her arms over her chest. Copia's eyes widened again. Did he dare to have some hope again...?

"...That's good...", he mumbled and closed his eyes for a moment. If it wasnt a disease, then he wouldnt risk infecting anyone else... Then he didnt need to stay locked up in here anymore...

"Now, if you dont mind, I have some phone calls to make", Sister Imperator excused herself. No, Copia wouldnt mind at all. Actually, he prefered if everyone could just leave so that he could sneak out of there. They probably wouldnt let him if he just asked to. He just wanted to rest in his own, comfortable bed, and if it turned out that he would die, then he would rather do so in the presence of people he cared about. Or more specifically, a certain ghoul. As Sister Imperator was now leaving, the sister that she had been talking to came over to check his wounds and to ask how he was feeling. He couldnt say that he felt good, but at least he was alive.... For now... At least he still had the chance to... see Dewdrop... Life was too short to let petty things like disagreements and anxiety get in the way. Especially his life, which might end sooner than he would have ever thought...

Unfortunately, the sister that had checked his wounds were still hanging around, so he would have to wait for a bit. Eventually, another one came into the ward and they just seemed to take turns leaving and returning. Typical. As Copia's gaze moved around the room, he spotted a phone. He should call Dewdrop and ask him to come and pick him up. Using this particular phone would be too risky though. He would need to make his way to the nearest office instead. It wasnt too far. 

He waited for almost twenty minutes until he dared to sit up again. Both sisters had left a few minutes ago and none of them had come back inside. Perhaps they were on lunchbreak or something. He had no clue as to which time of the day it was. Knowing that the two could possibly come back any second, he still decided to take the risk and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. When he did, he noticed a sharp pain in his arm, and naturally, he dropped his gaze to it to check it. That's when he realized that he was hooked to an iv machine and that the needle had slipped out from under his skin slightly. Cringing, he reached down to pull it out fully. A trail of blood followed, but that was fine. He needed to act quickly if he wanted to get out of there unseen. 

As soon as his feet connected with the floor, he stilled, making sure that he was able to stand on his own before he tried to walk. His legs still felt heavy and unsteady and he could really need something to support him. If only he could reach the doorway, he would be able to stabilize himself. Every step that he took hurt, but he eventually made it to the door and threw one last glance back down the hallway to make sure that no sisters had seen him, before exiting the ward. He managed to walk better now that he had the wall for support, but he wouldnt be able to make it all the way back to his quarters on his own. That's why he needed to call Dewdrop. The office that he knew was located only two corridors away felt like it was a mile away and he was starting to hurt more now, as well as losing energy, but he was determined to keep going. He wasnt at all fond of the thought of going back to the medical wing. 

Like a wounded soldier in the midst of a war, he kept forcing himself to go forward, determined not to fall down dead before he had reached his destination. He would allow himself to sink to the floor though, once he had reached the office doorway, and kept moving forward on his hands and knees. He was exhausted. Fortunately, his savior was in their by the desk in the form of a comfy looking chair. It was with much effort that he pulled himself up on it and could finally let his body go limp. For a while, he just sat there panting and hoping that no one was looking for him.... Damnit... He just wanted to be in his own bed right now. He craved sleep, but he also craved company.... A specific company. 

Turning his head slowly towards the desk, he studied the dark green phone on top of it. What was the number to the ghouls' quarters again.....? He lifted his trembling arm to move it over to the desk, dropping his hand down onto the phone's mouth piece. In his head, he tried to put together the right combination of numbers, but his brain was constantly trying to shut down. Sigh. He really, really needed this to work and so he tried dialing a few different numbers before he eventually figured out the right one. His head hurt from listening to the intense tones coming through, but somehow, he couldnt find the strenght to move the reciever away from his ear. 

The voice at the other end sounded weird to him, but maybe that was just all in his head. At least he was pretty certain about who it was he was talking to. 

"...Aether..?" he mumbled into the phone and waited for an answer. None came for a while and he was afraid that the connection might have been broken.

"..Sir? Is that you?" came the reply suddenly. Copia still hadnt gotten an answer to his question, and it frustrated him a bit, but he realized that it didnt really matter. 

"Could you...", he pinched the base of his nose as his face was starting to hurt. "..tell Dew to pick me up...? I'm at the..", he had to think for a moment. "..B5 office..", he trailed off and sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.

"...What? Why?...Are you cured?" the ghoul sounded very surprised and confused.

"..No....just..tell him", he groaned, not feeling like explaining anything. Just something as simple as holding the phone to his ear was exhuasting, and hurt.

"..Ok, sir... Will do", Aether promised, still with hints of confusion in his voice, as well as concern. Copia couldnt find the motivation to say goodbye, so he just slowly started to remove the reciever from his ear. He tried to put it down gently, but his arm betrayed him halfway to the desk and he just dropped it instead. He honestly couldnt care less. Again, he let his body go limp, trying not to use up too much energy. As his wounds were stinging here and there, he tried to distract himself from the pain by clenching and unclenching his fists, as well as shifting every now and then in a try to find a less uncomfortable position. No matter what he did though, he couldnt seem to relieve his pain in any way. 

For how long had he been waiting now? Probably for like two minutes or so, but it felt like it had been fifteen. He also noticed an iron like taste in his mouth, which kept him occupied for a while. If his insides were bleeding, he was in more trouble than he had thought. It concerned him greatly and he was actually starting to consider going back to the medical wing... He realized that he must have blacked out again, because he felt himself waking up to loud footsteps in the distance. Someone was running and was apparently coming this way. His eyes opened and he tensed up, hoping that no one from the ward was looking for him. Thinking logically though, they would have probably noticed his absence by now... When a dark silhuette appeared in the doorway suddenly, his heart jumped into his throat. He tried to make out who it was, but it was pretty dark in the office and the light from outside made it hard to see any details on the person. When they rushed into the room suddenly, he realized that it was just Dewdrop and he relaxed again. He wanted to smile at him but his face hurt too much. At least he could open his mouth and say something, but before he was able to, he was silenced by the surprising sight of the ghoul throwing himself down on his knees before him to hug his waist and to bury his face in his chest. 

Copia couldnt help but to hiss at the pain, but he didnt try to get Dewdrop off of him. Before he could even gather himself enough to once again try to speak, two more figures appeared in the doorway and he soon recognized them as Rain and Aether. They didnt come inside though, but stayed where they were, seemingly hesitant about entering the room. Maybe because of the "disease". That was fine though... He turned his attention to his love interest instead.

"Dew...?" he mumbled, looking down at him. He didnt get any response of any sort...

"Sir..? Are you ok?" he heard Aether's voice from the doorway now and looked up at him shortly before bringing his hand up to stroke Dewdrop's hair. 

"Not really...", he mumbled, looking down again and moved his hand to the ghoul's horn instead to feel it curiously. "It's not a disease...... It's not contagious", he informed them, but neither Aether, nor Rain seemed any more keen on coming inside. They didnt seem fully convinced. "It's a curse", he added and was surprised to feel Dewdrop pulling back suddenly to look up at him with surprised, teary eyes. The poor ghoul had obviously been crying... It caught him off guard for a bit and he stared back into his eyes until Aether's voice broke through to him and he looked up at him instead. 

"A curse..?" he asked. 

"...Yes.... Sister Imperator said so...", he explained and sighed. "She said that she knows someone who might be able to help..." he added, looking down at his love interest again. He was flattered that the ghoul cared so much for him... but he didnt like seeing him like this. 

"Are you alright..?" he asked him softly, being met with silence for a few seconds. 

"No..I thought you would die", Dewdrop replied, obviously very upset. This in turn made Copia upset. He realized that the ghoul must have suffered profoundly for the last few hours. More so than he himself had probably. 

"I think...there is still time...", he said, trying to comfort Dewdrop as best as he could. "It's only been a few hours", he continued and tensed up at the look that the ghoul gave him suddenly. He looked even more upset if possible, and a bit angry as well. 

"No. It's been three days!" he corrected him and once again buried his face in his chest. Copia didnt reply as he was quite shocked by those news. Three days...? Had he slept for three days?.... Or had he been unconscious all this time..? His heart was starting to beat in that uncomfortable, hard way again and he was again starting to lose hope for a recovery. 

"...I see..", he said, swallowing. He tried to be brave and to pretend that it wasnt bothering too much. "Dew...", he started again. "Will you help me...get back to my quarters..?" he asked softly, looking down at him, suddenly a bit nervous about how he might react. The question didnt seem to have bothered the ghoul though as he slowly pulled away and stood while wiping his tears away. To help things a bit, Copia carefully pushed away from the chair to try and stand up. Dewdrop swooped in before he could fully straighten up though and scooped him up in his arms. As last time this happened, Copia couldnt help but to feel a bit embarrassed. He did secretly start to like it though... The two other ghouls silently stepped aside to let Dewdrop out of the room and then followed him down the hallway. 

As they walked, Copia allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment and to try and relax in his lover's arms. Despite Dewdrop's tendencies to be mischievous and to mess with him and the others, he had really turned out to be a very sweet guy. Maybe that was just towards him in particular though... He didnt know, and right now, he didnt care either. He just cared about sleeping. 

When they eventually arrived to his private quarters, Dewdrop carried him inside, being careful not to step on any cute little rats in the process. Both Rain and Aether followed them to the bedroom where the fire ghoul gently lowered him down onto the bed. 

"Thank you..", he sighed, his voice still a bit hoarse. He couldnt believe how soft and comfortable his bed felt in comparison to the ones in the medical wing. He would have been pretty comfortable back there though if it hadnt been for the painful wounds on his back. As all was silent and the ghouls were just standing there watching him, he decided to tell them to go. 

"You may leave", he mumbled and lifted his arm to rest it over his eyes. 

"Are you sure, sir?" Aether asked, sounding concerned. The others said nothing. 

"I'm sure..", he hummed in return and shifted his arm a little bit so that he could peek at them from underneath it. Again, Aether and Rain seemed hesitant, and Dewdrop's head was lowered too much for Copia to see his expression. 

"We'll check in on you", Aether assured him, still looking hesitant about leaving him alone in this condition. Copia just nodded to him and watched as the three of them started to leave. 

"Not you.... Dew..", he said suddenly and watched as the surprised ghoul stopped to look back at him. Again, he wanted to smile at him, but he didnt do it. The man just nodded to him before following the other two back to the door. In the meantime, Copia pushed himself up to sit, making a face as it hurt quite a bit. His heart was starting to beat hard in his chest again as he waited for Dewdrop to return. He knew that he couldnt deny his feelings anymore, and he actually didnt even want to do it any longer. Not only did he need Dewdrop right now, but he really wanted him as well... His breathing became slightly heavier due to nervousness as he heard the door closing and then footsteps approaching his bedroom. He felt so anxious all of a sudden. He hadnt expected it to affect him so strongely. He wouldnt let it stand in his way though... He really wanted his love interest to know that he liked him back. When Dewdrop finally appeared in the doorway, he couldnt help but to smile a little. 

"You should rest", the ghoul told him as he came over to sit next to him on the bed. It made Copia even more nervous. 

"I know..", he replied, hating how his voice sounded so unsteady. He really didnt know how to say it. He didnt even know what to say.... Maybe action would be the best way to go about it then...... He nervously turned towards Dewdrop, meeting his gaze, which was beaming with affection, but also concern. He swallowed, feeling his heartbeat increase some more. His gaze then dropped to the ghoul's lips for a moment then to his chest. Again, he swallowed what felt like a lump in his throat. He bit his lip awkwardly before he dared to raise his gaze to meet Dewdrop's again. Feeling fed up with this anxiety now, he decided on just taking a deep breath before leaning in to softly plant a kiss on the ghoul's mouth. When he pulled back, he could see a clear change of emotions in his lover's eyes. He looked happy, and at peace, sort of. Again, Copia leaned in to kiss him and the ghoul met him halfway. It was the most wonderful sensation to feel his soft lips pressing back against his own. The butterflies in his belly seemed to have escaped and was now filling his whole body up. He felt as though he was melting under the other man's affectionate kiss. 

Not long after, he felt Dewdrop wrapping his arms around him to pull him closer and to kiss him more fiercely. He couldnt help but to let out of a satisfied moan and he pushed the tip of his tongue out to run it along the ghoul's eager lips. The ghoul decided to deepen the kiss then, using his own tongue to brush against the Cardinal's before pushing it into his mouth. This made Copia shudder from pleasure and he wrapped his arms around Dewdrop in return. He noticed that the man's tongue was a bit more rough than a human one, and also longer as it curiously reached to the back of his mouth, exploring every little corner of him. He could tell that he was unusually eager today. It sure had been a while since their last intimate moment. They had never kissed like this before though. There had only been a couple of small pecks, or.... the ghoul's aggressive smooching during their first intercourse. This was different though because he could feel how careful and affectionate he was compared to that night. Back then, he had probably been mostly driven by a sexual desire for him. It had been the same for Copia. As well as with all other times they had kissed. He hadnt felt much for Dewdrop back then, but this time, he could definitely say that he was inlove. 

He wrestled the ghoul's tongue for a bit before the said man pulled back suddenly, leaving him a bit surprised. He had been so into the moment that he had almost lost his sense of time and space. The big grin on the ghoul's face quickly snapped him out of it though, and he smiled back at him, feeling happier than ever. Until he remembered that he was dealing with a deadly curse...... He must have lost that smile pretty fast because Dewdrop's expression turned confused all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?" he asked, tilting his head in that cute way. Copia didnt really want to talk about it. He would rather forget about it, but he knew that that wouldnt happen... 

"Nothing..", he replied, forcing a small smile before reaching a hand out to cup Dewdrop's cheek, stroking it slowly with his thumb. In response to it, the ghoul closed his eyes and a soft purring sound filled the room. He seemed to accept his answer. Or maybe not...

"Was I...", Dewdrop started, opening his eyes again. "Too intrusive...?" he wondered, clearly concerned that he might be pushing his beloved away again. Copia smiled. A genuine one this time.

"Not at all", he ensured him and leaned in to press his lips against Dewdrop's. Again, butterflies were fluttering around in his belly. Instead of continuing the kiss though, he embraced the ghoul again, resting his chin on his shoulder. His heart started to beat harder again as he was once again worrying about his condition. It sure was nice and calming to have someone to hold at a time like this. Dewdrop did of course embrace him back and they sat like that for a couple of minutes in silence before the ghoul spoke up.

"...I want you to be mine", he said, nuzzling the side of Copia's neck. "..Mine only..", he added, making Copia smile again. He supposed that that might mean no more sexy times with the other ghouls. Or maybe it did... Either way, he was fine with it. 

"Of course", he replied, closing his eyes as he was getting tired again. "I'm yours.."


	9. chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey. Sorry for the late update. I hope you're still interested in reading. Btw, I was wondering... if anyone would like to roleplay Ghost with me. If so, just message me or reply in the comments section <3

Copia realized that he must have fallen asleep because he suddenly found himself in his bed. He was laying on his side, blinking his tired eyes open slowly. It seemed to be day time still as the room was pretty bright. He didnt ponder on it any further though as he suddenly noticed two eyes staring back at him. He didnt know why he hadnt seen them right away as Dewdrop's face was practically right in front of him, resting on a pillow. The ghoul gazed back at him with calm eyes, as if simply enjoying the view. Could wonder for how long he had been staring at him... Not that he was creeped out by it, or anything, but Dewdrop did tend to be a little weird sometimes. 

He could feel his poor, wounded skin stretching as the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. It hurt, so he tried to stop. Also, his eyelids were starting to feel significantly heavier by the second, so he closed them as well. While he let them rest, thoughts of worry and fear came to occupy his mind, as always lately. It made him want to go back to sleep as fast as possible. Just so that he could escape them. He knew it wouldnt help solve anything, but it was better than laying awake and awaiting death... As he tried to push those bad thoughts away, he could hear Dewdrop shifting on the bed. Despite the ghoul's presence, he still felt so alone. So alone in his sickness. So alone in the world...

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and at first, he tensed up from the unexpected touch on his face. Soft, gentle fingers stroked at his cheek slowly, actually making him relax a bit. It was quite comforting and he momentarily forgot about his troubles to enjoy the caring touches from his beloved ghoul. The hand eventually stopped and moved to the hair on the back of his neck, stroking it affectionately and occasionally entangling its fingers in it. It brought back memories of that day when they were about to leave father Elund's ministry and Dewdrop had made some unwanted advances. It almost made him smile and a warm feeling spread throughout his chest. The ghoul's touches were almost making him fall back into sleep by now, but something alerted his brain again. A soft, wet little kiss had just been planted on his nose and he couldnt help but to smile now. It was followed by a few more on his mouth and cheek before everything stilled again. He was still smiling and he wished to return the ghoul's affection, but he restrained himself from doing so. His eyes were tired. His whole body was. 

The next time he woke up, he felt hunger gnawing in his belly. That didnt occupy his mind for long though as he was suddenly hearing distant voices. He also noted that Dewdrop wasnt in the bed with him anymore. What was going on...? He rolled over on his back and pushed himself up to sit, trying to hear what was being said. The first voice that he managed to recognize was that of Sister Imperator and she didnt sound very happy. This made Copia remember how he had escaped from the medical wing earlier. Or was it yesterday...? He had no sense of time right now. He heard another female voice then. A softer, more gentle one. Before he could even start to get anxious about the situation though, he spotted Dewdrop backing into the bedroom, a bit crouched, like a scared dog would. The said man soon turned and scuttered over to the bed, disappearing down behind the far side of it. 

"You naughty ghoul", Sister Imperator's voice came suddenly and Copia tensed up a little before she appeared in the doorway, followed by another sister. Dewdrop, who had dared to peek up from his hiding spot quickly retreated back down when the woman's eyes scanned the room. 

"Your excellency. What's going on?" Copia asked her drowsily, feeling so confused. Had Dewdrop been up to no good while he was asleep? At first, Sister Imperator's gaze was beaming with irritation as it landed on him. Then it turned into a more empathic one. 

"Thank Lucifer. Are you alright?" she asked as she moved over to his bedside. "You see, I was simply giving that rascal of a ghoul a scolding for bringing you here. I dont know what the little angel spawn was thinking", her voice got angrier and angrier as she spoke and she was now almost glaring at Copia. It took him a while to put things together and to understand what she was on about. 

"I'm sorry..", he said sheepishly, feeling guilty now. "I was the one who asked him to pick me up.....", he addmitted quietly. His gaze fell on the bed then and he suddenly felt so stupid for having run away like that. Like a child. He supposed that fear could do strange things to your brain... The awkward silence was starting to become rather painful now, but fortunately for him, Sister Imperator decided to speak up again.

"Oh...really?" she said, sounding quite baffled and a little bit suspicious. Silence followed for a moment before Copia dared to speak again.

"..I just wanted to rest here.... I didnt think they would let me leave if I asked...", he revealed, feeling ashamed of himself and quickly glancing up at the other sister in the doorway before his gaze returned to the bed. 

"Well...You should go back to the ward", Sister Imperator scolded him, although not sounding as stern as before. Copia did eventually dare to look up at her again.

"I know.... I just...", he glanced over to the other side of the bed where Dewdrop had dared to show his face again. "I would rather stay here..", he said, sighing. The silence that followed was concerning to him, but he had decided that he wouldnt budge. He if was going to die, he was going to do so in his own bed. 

"Well....", Sister Imperator sighed and put her hands on her hips. "I cant force you, Cardinal", she was obviously not happy with this. "I suppose that I could send someone over to look after you", she said. "You do need medical care", she added, giving him a meaning look. Copia couldnt disagree with her, and he did want help, so he nodded quietly to her. 

"...Thank you..", he said and saw Dewdrop climbing back up onto the bed in the corner of his eye. The ghoul kept his distance though. Right at this moment, he was reminded of the curse he was affected by and needed to get some answers. The two sisters were about to leave when he decided to ask about it. 

"..Sister", he started hesitatingly, wanting to wait for her to face him again before continuing. "The curse.... Where do you think it came from...?" he asked, both curious and afraid of what she might say. 

"...Well...It's most likely from a cursed object", she explained and made a pause. "One that you have been in contact with recently", she added and watched as Copia thought this over for a moment. 

"I see....", he replied, still confused as to what this object might be. An object that only he and Papa had touched.... Hmmm... 

"The object is requiered to break the curse", Sister Imperator started again, giving him a meaning look. "So you better remember soon", she added, nodding to him before she turned to leave again. "and by the way", she said, spinning around to face him one last time. "You should take a bath in unholy salt. It might ease the pain and help drive the curse away", she added and gestured for the other sister to come with her. "I will send someone over with some", and with that said, the two women left the room and eventually the quarters. 

Copia and Dewdrop sat in silence for a while as he was busy sorting out thoughts at the moment. He tried to think of something that he and Papa could have done together.... with an object... No situation came to mind and it frustrated him greatly as it would be crucial to his chance at being cured. His hungry belly made itself reminded then and he could feel the rumbling in there as clearly as the sound of it. 

"I'll get you something to eat", Dewdrop offered and moved over to Copia now, positioning himself close to his side. Copia just sighed and turned his head to look at the sweet ghoul. There was so much warmth beaming through the man's gaze. He would have never thought it possible from this unruly man. He was still getting used to it. 

"Yes...please", he hummed quietly, gazing back into Dewdrop's eyes for a moment. "but not yet..", he added, not having much of an appetite and not wanting to be left alone either. Not without getting some comforting love from the ghoul first. Making an effort, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips against Dewdrop's, causing the man to let out a satisfied sigh. He wondered if he was feeling those same butterflies in his belly....

As they continued to kiss, the rough tip of the ghoul's tongue came out to run across Copia's lips and he licked him back before pulling away to embrace him. The ghoul was happily hugging him back and he could feel him nuzzling his neck with his nose before giving it an affectionate lick. Despite the circumstances, he couldnt help but to feel a bit excited about it... He didnt think it would be appropriate for him to have any sex though. Not in his condition. Or maybe it would be... If he was going to die, he might as well get laid one last time... This thought made his heart sting with sorrow and fear and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to think about it. 

As they sat there holding each other in silence, Dewdrop started to kiss his neck softly, sensually. Copia didnt really know how to feel about it or if he should give in to his desires or not... His breathing was becoming heavier now as the ghoul was again licking his neck and he could feel himself starting to grow hard. He wanted Dewdrop more and more for every for every lick and he wondered if the ghoul was trying to excite him or if he was simply just being affectionate. Eventually, he decided that he didnt want this right now and pulled away, clearing his throat awkwardly. He was feeling a bit embarassed about his hard on, but he hoped that Dewdrop wouldnt notice it. Again, his belly screamed at him to feed it. It was almost worse than the previous one. He really did need to eat something.... He didnt have to ask though, because Dewdrop was already moving off the bed, once again offering to get him something to eat. Copia agreed this time and was then left on his own as the ghoul ran outside. It wasnt until he had left that he realized that he should have asked for something specific to eat. Not that it mattered much... Whatever Dewdrop brought him would be fine.

He sat there for a while, staring at his window. Again, he started to think about that damn cursed object. What in the world could it be...? He absentmindedly shook his head and then froze as he suddenly heard a distant noise. He tried to listen carefully, suddenly fearful of what might have caused it. That shadow figure came to mind and he felt himself go numb from fear. What if it was back...? He started feeling nauscious now. No.... It had to have been the rats... If the figure had wanted to kill him, it would have done so already....Right? He quietly pulled his covers aside as to not make any noise. Just in case there was something...or someone in his quarters. He then swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood on unsteady feet. 

As he started to quietly move towards the doorway, his heart was beating like crazy in his chest. He once again told himself that it must have been the rats before he dared to peek into his office room. It was dimly lit, but he could tell that there was no one lurking in the shadows. No human... No monster... No nothing. Feeling slightly more relaxed now, he let his gaze move to the small table where he always fed the rats. The bowls looked pretty empty from where he was standing, leaning on the doorway. Guilt washed over him and he tried to hurry over there as fast as he could, afraid that his little friends might be starving. If he had really been gone for three days, then they must all be really hungry.... Hopefully they had managed to find some food on the kitchen floor or in the dining room. 

As soon as he reached the little table, he pulled the only chair out to sit his tired butt down. He then pulled one of the bags from the nearby cupboard. His belly was starting to hurt from not having eaten for so long and it only fueled his worries for his pets. Fortunately, a few of them came scurrying across the floor at the sound of the bag. They didnt look sick, which made him relax a bit. Still, there were only a few of them showing up. As he poured the food into the bowls, he studied the rats carefully to try and see if something was off about them. They seemed fine though. Now where could the other ones be..? He remained at the table, now resting his head in his arms on it, worrying again. He needed to ask Dewdrop to go and look for them. He himself wasnt in any condition to do so and he really needed to know if they were ok...

He must have dozed off because he felt as though he was suddenly waking up. There was a noise coming from the door now and he lifted his head drowsily to see a dark figure entering his quarters. It quickly alarmed him and he clumsily tried to get up, but as he was sleepy and disoriented he got his foot stuck between the chair and the table and managed to tip the chair and himself down onto the floor. He hardly noticed the pain in his back as it connected with the floor as he was too busy freaking out. The dark figure was now rushing towards him, but as it came closer, he realized that it was just Dewdrop.... It was a huge relief, but he found it hard to calm down and relax. The ghoul put a tray down on the small table before crouching down, towering over him.

"Are you ok?" he asked, sounding concerned. He didnt wait for Copia to answer him though before he started helping him up to sit. 

"Yes...", Copia replied quietly, rubbing the back of his head, feeling pretty stupid. He could feel the ghoul's concerning gaze on him as he avoided eye contact. It was getting awkward so he decided on trying to get up instead, of course getting the help to do so. He was still pretty embarrassed and so he kept quiet all the way back to the bedroom. Once there, Dewdrop gently helped him to sit on the bed before returning to the office room to pick up the tray. It was filled up with various foods, cut cutely into small pieces. If he hadnt felt so embarrassed still, he would have smiled at it. 

"What were you doing?" Dewdrop asked as he put the tray down on Copia's bedside table and climbed up on the bed next to him. curiously watching him. Copia had hoped he wouldnt ask...but oh well. 

"...I fed the rats", he replied and picked up the glass of water, shakily bringing it to him. He hadnt realized how damn thirsty he was until now. 

"I could have done that", Dewdrop replied, still watching him. Getting the glass to his mouth had proved harder for Copia than he would have thought. His muscles were so weak and his arm felt abnormally heavy. It was also trembling. The ghoul seemed to have noticed his struggles and gently grabbed the bottom of the glass to help him bring it to his mouth. Copia felt kind of like a baby right now, but he was so thirsty that he didnt really care, and so he allowed Dewdrop to help steady the glass while he drank. He downed all of it pretty quickly and let it be taken away to now focus on the food. He started with a small piece of apple, struggling with this as well, but not nearly as much as with the water. 

Eating was slow, but that was fine by him. He was just happy to get something in his belly. Apparently, Dewdrop was a bit hungry too as he suddenly reached over Copia's lap to grab a small piece of a sandwich. It was then presented to him as if though he was a baby or an animal about to be fed. All he did was to give the ghoul an 'are you kidding me?' look before he went on with grabbing himself a new apple piece. Dewdrop seemed to accept his rejection and proceeded with putting the piece in his own mouth instead, happily chewing away.

They kept eating in silence for a while and Copia was fairly sure he was feeling a bit more energetic now. Or maybe it was just his imagination. As his situation made it hard for him not to worry and overthink, thoughts of his beloved rats came to mind again. 

"...Could you go and check on the rats?" he asked, turning his head to look at the ghoul beside him. "The ones out in the ministry", he added, chewing slowly on a piece of bread. At first, the man seemed confused, tilting his head to the side before straightening up again.

"Why?" he asked, watching Copia with a warm gaze, beaming with desire, as they tended to do lately. 

"I havent fed them for days..", he replied, turning away again. He felt really bad about it even though he knew it wasnt his fault. 

"I can ask someone to do it", Dewdrop offered, obviously hoping to stay by his side as much as possible. He got but a nod in return and was then off like a lightning bolt. So eager to please his beloved Cardinal.. It was sweet.... Flattering. While the ghoul was gone, Copia's brain was being occupied by thoughts of shadow figures and death and he hoped that Dewdrop would be back soon. It reminded him of how he had wanted to sleep with him one last time. One last time before he might have to take his final breath... He felt way too sore for sex though. He needed to think of a way that would be not so painful for him. Perhaps ... a blowjob would do. The idea made him a bit nervous and he started to stuff more food in his mouth. Could he trust a ghoul with his dick...? The thought of sharp fangs around his delicate private parts was scary, and Dewdrop did bite him once before....

He waited for another ten minutes before the sound of the door opening reached his ears and footsteps followed before Dewdrop appeared in his bedroom doorway again. He was carrying something that looked like a cardboard box. 

"What is that...?" he asked as the ghoul came over and placed the ojbect on the floor next to the bed.

"Unholy salt", he replied and jumped up onto the bed in front of him. Right... The salt.... He would take a bath after....he was done here... 

"Can you lock the door?" he asked then, moving to lay down on his back now. The ghoul was of course as eager as always to do what he asked of him and he waited nervously in bed as the door to his quarters was being locked. The moment Dewdrop appeared in his bedroom doorway again, he felt blood rushing down to his crotch. He wasnt quite sure of how to approach him about it, but he supposed that he could just straight out ask him... 

"Are you tired?" The ghoul asked as he climbed up on the bed again, sitting next to him. Yeah, he sure was tired, but not in the mood to sleep just yet. As his love interest lightly touched his arm, he could feel his cock twitch in response, making him blush slightly.

"..No...", he replied awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. He let the ghoul keep stroking his arm for a moment before he reached it out to place his hand on the man's thigh. As their gazes met, he realized that he didnt seem to notice the intent in his touch, so he squeezed the thigh a little. Still nothing.... Maybe a different kind of approach would do.

"You know...", he started quietly. "I might...die soon....", he trailed off and dropped his gaze, suddenly feeling fearful again. The reaction he got from Dewdrop wasnt really what he had expected and he realized that he had now upset both of them. 

"Dont say that", the ghoul murmured, his voice dripping with sorrow as he leaned down over him to carefully embrace him. It did hurt Copia a little, but he wouldnt want to push Dewdrop away for anything in the world. Did he just ruin everything...? He didnt feel especially horny anymore, but was instead filled with regrets and fear. Until he felt a wet kiss on his neck, that was. There wasnt anything sensual about it. It was just gentle and affectionate. A kiss purely out of love.... As the ghoul continued to kiss him, he realized that this was probably a good time to reveal his desires. Especially since they were quickly growing now. 

"Dew...", he started quietly, moving his hands to the man's waist to gently squeeze it. "Could you...do me one last favour...?" the kissing stopped immediately and he feared that he might be on his way to make things worse. He had this terrible desire growing within him though. One that he needed to deal with in some way or another.

"Dont say that", the ghoul repeated as he pulled back a little to look into Copia's eyes, this time with a slight irritation in them. 

"...Alright...but.....", Copia swallowed, feeling awkward about asking. At the same time, he knew that all his nervousness would go away as soon as they got intimate with each other. It was just a question of getting over that first step... "Uh.... would you like to.....", his gaze moved somewhere else before he could dare to utter those words. "blow me....?" they came out very quietly and he held his breath, wondering if he might have upset the ghoul even more with his request. As no answer came, he eventually had to turn his gaze back to his lover to find out. In his eyes, he could see a weak fire burning now... A desire... There was a sudden change in his demeanor... This made Copia relax again and he smiled softly, watching as the ghoul quietly moved back to pull up his hospital gown. In this moment, Copia's heart was beating so fast from excitement and he was already pretty hard. 

Dewdrop's eyes met with his again for a second as the ghoul lowered himself down inbetween his legs. Gently, he grabbed the base of the cock, causing Copia to let out a satisfied sigh. He had dreamed about getting a blow job from him ever since that day with Aether and Rain. He knew how good it felt to put ones dick in someone's mouth and how good it would feel to get the chance to do that to Dewdrop. Not a single word was spoken between them. The ghoul simply just flickered his tongue against his hardening shaft, unconditionally giving him what he wanted. As the tongue started to move up along it, Copia couldnt help but to moan. That warm, wet, strong tongue was already driving him insane as it licked him eagerly, continuing up towards the sensitive tip. He closed his eyes and his hands lightly gripped the fabric on the bed as he felt it swirl around his slit. It was quite difficult to restrain himself from bucking his hips up, of course wanting more of that warm, pleasuring mouth. 

The hand on the base of his cock was now slowly stroking him, making him moan again. He was rock hard at this point and some precum was starting to trickle out of his slit, which the ghoul gladly cleaned up with his tongue. The hand was gripping him rather hard now, stilling as the tongue started moving down his cock, swirling around it like a snake. This made Copia even more excited if possible. It was definitely longer than a human tongue, and it also had a great strenght to it the way it squeezed him.

"..Dew...", he groaned, gripping the blankets harder. He was so painfully hard now and he couldnt help but to buck his hips upwards a little bit. The tongue swirled around him for a few more moments before it slipped away and a voice broke through to him.

"You like that?" it asked. It sounded husky and thick with lust. The tongue didnt return to his cock though, but was instead used to lick at his inner thigh, teasingly close to his cock. 

"Mm....yes....", Copia moaned in response, breathing heavily by now. He wanted more. So much more, but the ghoul just kept teasing him. The hand that was wrapped hard around his cock didnt even move. It was driving him crazy... He wasnt going to beg him though, if that's what he wanted. Absolutely not. He was going to stay still and play it off as being unaffected by the lack of stimulation on his poor genitals. More precum was running down the tip of his cock now and he could hear the sound of a wet tongue licking at his thigh. The noises made him even more desperate. Especially when the tongue moved to run up his buttcheek. His whole body shuddered from the pleasure it brought him and a wonderful sensation coursed throughout him. 

All of a sudden, the hand started to stroke him again and he inhaled deeply, overwhelmed by pleasure. He wouldnt make a sound though. Not yet. He didnt want Dewdrop to think that he was that needy. He was though.... Eventually, the mouth returned to his cock, but this time, the ghoul pushed the whole lenght into his mouth and throat all at once, making Copia gasp and whimper from pleasure. He couldnt stop himself from moaning loudly now as the ghoul bobbed his head up and down, working on making him come. With trembling hands, Copia reached his arms out to grab a hold of Dewdrop's horns, trying to make him go faster. It didnt seem to bother the ghoul and he kept going for a while before eventually pulling back and leaving the confused cardinal hanging. A smirk was flashed at Copia before that amazing tongue came out to wrap around his sensitive cock again. It slowly moved around it, teasing him further. Again, Copia reached out to grab the ghoul's horns, panting and moaning as he was quickly reaching his peak. He only stopped at the sudden sensation of two fingers forcing themselves inside him and it was all it took to push him over the edge. The tips of Dewdrop's fingers rubbed hard against his prostate, making him cum immediately. A loud gasp escaped him and was followed by a lustful moaning of his lover's name. Dear Lucifer... He hadnt had an orgasm that good in a while... All thanks to this lovely, horny gremlin here. As he laid there panting, he smiled to himself, letting go of Dewdrop's horns to let him pull back. He could see a bulge inbetween the ghoul's legs now, wondering what he was going to do with it. 

"Was it good?" he was asked, followed by a smirk as the man wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. Copia inhaled deeply, trying to calm his breathing a little.

"It was amazing..", he admitted, smiling softly at his lover in return. He did want him to be able to cum too, but he wasnt sure of what he could do for him. He was still very weak and he could hardly even hold his glass of water without dropping it... In silence, Dewdrop pulled himself off the bed now, heading out of the room and to what Copia assumed was the bathroom. His gaze moved around a bit and landed on the box of unholy salt on the floor. It would feel good to clean up a bit. He didnt know how long it had been since the last time... Again, he remembered why he was in his bed in the first place and his heart started aching from anxiety and fear. He hoped that help would come soon...and that they would be able to cure him and Papa Nihil.... 

The sound of running water reached his ears now and distracted him from those distressing thoughts, and soon Dewdrop appeared in the doorway again.

"..I should take a bath...", Copia spoke quietly as he pushed himself up to sit, head bowed down in a gloomy manner. The change in his mood didnt go unnoticed by the ghoul, of course, who climbed back up onto the bed.

"I'll help", he replied, moving to sit closely in front of Copia. He seemed to study him for a moment before his head tilted to the side. "What's wrong?" he asked, seemingly concerned now as he couldnt even get any eye contact with his beloved cardinal. Copia didnt really know what to say to that. He was just so tired, and so fearful of what his fate would be... He was afraid of dying, but most of all, he was afraid of not getting to see Dewdrop again, and death would surely do them part... 

"Uhm...", he could hear his own voice breaking and so he stopped himself from speaking further. Instead, he inhaled deeply, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. Trying to calm himself. He could feel tears burning in his eyes as he closed them hard. He could also feel Dewdrop's hand on his arm, making it even harder to hold back his emotions. "I dont want to die..", he admitted weakly, swallowing and trying to stay calm. As the ghoul pulled him into a hug though, he couldnt help but to let the tears fall. He didnt want to cry in front of him, but he couldnt help himself. He had been keeping his emotions at bay for the last day or so. He couldnt really remember... Like last time they hugged, he let his chin rest on his lover's shoulder, silently letting the tears roll down his face. He supposed that Dewdrop must have noticed his ragged breathing because he slowly started stroking his back.

"You wont....", the ghoul spoke quietly and Copia thought he could hear a slight sorrow in his voice. "I wont let you...", was added and everything was quiet for a while. He did feel a bit calmer now that he had let his emotions out and now that Dewdrop was holding him so lovingly, but it didnt take away the fear of what he knew might be coming for him. Again, his distressing thoughts were interrupted, and this time by a hand that came up to softly stroke at the hair on the back of his neck. It was a truly relaxing touch and Copia was beginning to really like that about the ghoul. He couldnt stop the corners of his mouth from pulling upwards at the memory of how annoyed he had been with Dewdrop that day when he had first touched his hair in the car. Somehow along the way though, he had managed to capture his heart anyway, and Copia was very happy about that....


End file.
